Sarah's Task Force vs Fulcrum
by ArmySFC
Summary: Sarah runs the Counter Terrorism Task Force when the intersect ends up in Chuck's head. Please read the Authors Note prior to reading the story.
1. Getting Married

**AN:** This is going to be a long note and I suggest you read it before getting to the story. My idea of AU or Alternate Universe is just that, an alternate. From Wiki listed under AU: In alternate universe stories, characters' known motivations may vary considerably from their decisions in the canonical universe. The author of an alternate universe story thus can use the same characters, but send them down different paths to achieve a completely different plot or stories that fall into this definition are usually "what-ifs", where possibilities arising from circumstances which do not occur in the original fictional universe are explored. For example, the premise of an alternate universe story may go something like this: "What would happen if character X was killed before event Y could happen?" Unlike regular fan fiction, which Generally remains within the boundaries of the canon set out by the author, alternate universe fiction writers like to explore the possibilities of pivotal changes made to characters' history, motivations, or environment. That's where this work and most of my others exist.

There are things in this universe could never exist in the show. This is not a Chuck/Sarah story. If that's what you're looking for then this is not the story for you. Please feel free to read it but refrain from telling me it sucks because it's not Charah, you've been warned. While there are loving couples in the story most of the story will be focused on the missions and not on the private lives of the couples.

There will be a lot of discussions taking place between the team members when planning a mission. There is a reason for it. I want to show a team effort where each member is equal, not where any member is that much better than the rest of the team.

This tale is eight chapters long and complete. I will post a chapter every couple days.

Chapter 1 Getting Married

A beautiful brunette wearing little more than a tank top and a pair of boy shorts was laying on the couch in her living room. She had a long hard day at the hospital and wanted to do nothing but relax when she got home. As soon as she got home she took a shower and changed into comfortable clothes then flopped on the couch. Her head was resting on the arm of the couch allowing her long brown slightly curly locks to hang down until they almost touched the floor. Soft jazz was coming from the speakers that were located around the room, several scented candles that were burning throughout the room cast a warm glow upon the walls of the living room. She was holding a glass of her favorite wine in her right hand and her left hand was covering her eyes. Several soft moans escaped her lips and her hips moved slightly as she adjusted her position on the couch. _My lord does she have great hands_ the brunette thought as another moan escaped her lips. She raised her arm slightly to look at the source of her pleasure. Sitting at the other end of the couch was her girl giving her a big smile as she gently massaged the brunette's feet. The girl would stop her massage every once in a while and place feather lite kisses on the brunette's legs or run her hands softly up the brunette's long legs. The brunette moaned more deeply as her girl moved her hands upwards and began working on her calves. She knew it would be a while yet before her girl would be finished massaging her legs and cuddled with her. _A perfect end to a lousy day_ thought the brunette.

The girl looked up at the brunette and asked, "Can I get you more wine El?"

"Yes, and can you bring us a snack as well?" the brunette paused for a second while deciding what she wanted, "I'll have some of the imported Brie and a few crackers also."

"As you wish," answered the girl as she rose from her spot on the couch and went to the kitchen to get their wine and food. She returned a few minutes later with the cheese and an assortment of crackers. "You didn't specify what crackers you wanted so I brought us several different kinds," she said while returning to her spot on the couch.

"You did fine," answered the brunette as she stroked the girl's cheek. The brunette's words were rewarded with a huge smile from the other girl. "I have the weekend off and left word at the hospital that I will be out of town until Tuesday and I am not available to come in for anything. I know we haven't had that much alone time with my schedule so I borrowed my friends cabin for us to use over the next couple of days."

The girl broke out in another big smile and pulled the brunette in for a hug. "When do we leave? It will take me a while to get us packed El."

"We can leave tonight after it gets dark so you have plenty of time. I have plans for you this weekend so I will pack your stuff, not that it will take long," the brunette said with a giggle. After the packing was complete they loaded into the car and drove to the cabin. No sooner did they enter the cabin when their world went black.

Ellie Bartowski stood in the center of the spacious room and admired its beauty. The floor of the room caught her interest first, it was a grey stone, granite she guessed. Not the polished granite you see in the modern houses of today. These stones were polished over the years from use, not from modern techniques in use today. The shapes of the stones added testament to the vast number of years that had passed by since it was constructed. Most were varying in size but still rectangular, some were irregular in their shape, proof that the masons of the past used every stone they had at their disposal.

Her heels clicked lightly as she crossed the floor to look at the wall closest to her. They were not just wooden walls; they were works of art unto themselves. She could hardly imagine the countless hours the wood carvers spent on each wall to achieve such quality. Even the passage time could not diminish the work that went into them. The walls were a highly polished dark oak with hand carved inlays reminiscent of the middle ages. The inlay she was studying, a knight in armor mounted on his stead, sword draw and ready to strike down the dragon that hovered over him, would fit in with some of the great carvings found in the museums of today.

Her eyes followed the wall upward to the ceiling. Massive dark wood beams stretched between the walls in support of both the ceiling and the floor above it. The areas between the beams were painted white creating a stark contrast to the beams themselves. Four large chandeliers, one near each corner of the room, hung from chains attached to the beams. The flames from the oil lamps dancing inside their glass and metal housings illuminated the room below. The chains looped over a pulley secured to the beam, then ran to the wall where it was hooked to the cleat mounted there. The chain could be let out to lower the chandelier allowing the oil in the lamps to be refiled.

The subdued lighting from overhead cast a warm glow throughout the room. The large fireplace that took up most of the far wall created the image of a warm place to rest during the cold of winter. The fire inside it crackled merrily adding its amber color to the room. The wood work around the fireplace was plain compared to the rest of the wood in the room. The names that were carved into the wood made it special. Ellie could picture the young children who once lived or stayed here, laughing and giggling as they carved their names into the wood, not knowing at the time, their names would still be here long after they were gone.

Facing the fireplace was a large couch along with a pair of matching chairs and a table. The furniture she knew dated back hundreds of years to a time long forgotten. It's possible she mused, that Kings and Queens could have used them at one time. On the wall opposite the fireplace a bookshelf was built into the wall. She walked over to it and began looking at the books held within its cool embrace. She was hesitant to touch the books because she knew these were original works, some hundreds of years old, of the literary masters who wrote them. By all accounts they were priceless. She pulled out one book and studied it, 'A Mid Summers Night's Dream', the bindings were worn but in good repair considering its age, the pages had yellowed with the passage of time and rustled softly as she turned them. Ellie she placed the book reverently back on the shelf and felt honored to be given access to a treasure like it.

She shifted her view to the walls where priceless works of art painted by Monet, Rembrandt, Van Gough and Picasso hung majestically. She knew that throughout the rest of the house many more adorned those walls. Statues, carved by some of the greatest sculptors from years gone by were placed next to the entrance way as if they were standing guard against evil.

The sound of heels clicking on the stone floor broke her out of her musings. She turned towards the approaching sounds and smiled. Shego, her host for tonight, approached her and pulled her into a hug. Ellie took a minute to admire the woman in front of her. Sheridan's, aka-Shego, luxurious black hair hung loosely down her back shining whenever the light touched on it. Her makeup was perfectly done, highlighting her angular features. What stood out most to Ellie was how relaxed Shego appeared. Gone was her normal scowl replaced by a warm smile and eyes. Ellie wasn't fooled by her appearance however. She knew that under that calm exterior was a woman capable of tearing apart the militaries best tank in minutes. Her Elizabethan style dress fit in with the décor and added to Shego's natural beauty.

"Hello Ellie. Excited about the big event?"

"Smart ass. Of course I am."

"Susan informed me that the preparations are taking a bit longer than we thought. Kimmie and Sue are doing their best."

"It's a shame my brother won't be here," Ellie sighed, "He doesn't understand the spy lifestyle at all."

"Are you ever going to tell him?" Shego took Ellie's hand and led her to the great hall where the wedding would take place.

"Just that we are married, nothing beyond that."

 **Dressing room** (some time earlier and going to the present)

Sarah had finally calmed down from Ellie's proposal some twelve hours before. She was sitting in one of the guest bedrooms waiting for her friends to return. Trained spy or not, if you asked her where she was her truthful answer would be, "I have no idea." Once they entered the cabin they had been tranqued, taken to Shego's private plane and were whisked away from California.

Looking around the room she could see why. The bed and bedding she was currently resting on had to be several hundred years old or more. She knew just by looking at the paintings on the wall they were originals. One she couldn't identify rested on the dresser and she theorized was done by one of the German artists, based on its style. _The FBI's White Collar Division would have a field day in this place. It's no wonder she tranqued us before they brought us here._ In addition to the paintingshanging on the walls, large tapestries were also there. The sound of talking in the hall broke her out of her musings. Kim and Sue entered the room carrying several garment bags, which they hung on the back of the door.

"Are you ready for this Sarah?" asked Sue.

"More than either of you will ever know," Sarah answered.

"Great. We can get started then," suggested Kim. She handed Sarah a small bag and instructed her to change into them. "these are your intimates. I'm sure you don't need help with those. When you're done we'll help you with the rest." She returned a few minutes later in just a pair of white thong panties and stockings.

"I can't believe Ellie spent so much on panties and hose. Did you see who's these are?"

"We know who made all of your clothes, there from Shego," Sue informed Sarah.

"If she even paid for them," mumbled Kim trying not to be heard. She pulled a white corset out next and helped Sarah put it on before lacing up the back. Sue and Kim then assisted Sarah in putting it on. The top half of the dress was form fitting and inlayed with fine pearls giving it a beaded look. The bottom half was made from the finest silk a designer could buy. It flared at the waist and pooled in a circle at her feet with the back forming a train of at least four feet. The vail they placed on her head extended below her chin in front and the length of the train in the back. Sarah knew she had never seen a wedding dress like this before, it was truly one of a kind, proof that Shego had it specially made for her. She sat on the lone chair in the room and placed the Italian hand crafted leather shoes on her feet and marveled at their comfort. Sarah, no stranger to designer fashion, knew this dress cost a small fortune.

"I can't believe Shego spent more on these clothes than the house we're looking buying," stated Sarah.

"If she even bought them," said Kim. Sarah shot her a confused look so Kim continued, "She has a lot of people who owe her favors or she has dirt on sooo…"

"I don't need to know the rest, correct?"

"Not really. Please remember Sheridan has opened our home to you for your wedding. Very few people ever get to see the inside of here," said Kim as she led her charge to the great hall where here wife to be would be waiting.

Ellie arrived first in the great hall just then fully understanding why it was called the great hall. The room was cavernous in size being at least two-hundred feet in length and over fifty feet wide. The floor was made of the same stones as the other room she had been in earlier. The ceiling and windows were the main focal point of the room in Ellie's eyes. Large stone arches supported the ceiling well over twenty feet high. The arches began at the doors and were spaced evenly along the length of the room. Between the arches large stained glass windows allowed the light to enter. Each window was different from the next but when viewed in order seemed to tell of an epic battle fought by armored men of time long past. The same style chandeliers, but larger, hung from the stone arches sending light to the room below them. Two large fireplaces were on each wall and one was on each of the smaller walls. Each fireplace had a fire burning in it to warm the normally chilly hall. A plush red runner stretched the length of the hall, placed there for the solitary purpose of guiding the bride to her wife to be.

Sarah was also in awe of the great hall as she entered it, her thoughts much the same as Ellie's. She had tears starting to form as she was escorted down the aisle by Kim and Sue. The moment she had been waiting years for had finally come and she planned to savor every minute of it. Sheridan had spared no expense it seemed when decorating for the wedding. Along the length of the carpet white marble flower stands held bouquets of white roses and gardenias. White banners had been unfurled from the arches. Two interlocked gold rings were embroidered in the center of each, the names of the brides above the rings and the date underneath. Ellie and Sheridan were waiting for the brides' arrival flanked on both sides by a large bronze candelabra holding eight tall and thick white candles.

The brides were finally where the ceremony would take place and the minister conducted the wedding. The rings and vows were exchanged bringing an end to the best day either of the brides could remember having. They enjoyed a nice meal before retiring for the evening. When they woke up the next day they were back in the cabin where the weekend began. Shego made it very clear the day before that they had to continue with their original plans for the cabin wedding. Wade alerted them to some shady goings on in the CIA and wanted them to be ready for anything. They had a few hours before they were _supposed_ to arrive so they left the cabin for a while before heading back. All they had left to do was play out the script of getting married.

When they arrived Ellie said, "I have a special surprise for you waiting inside the cabin so you better not look until I tell you to."

"You got it Ellie, but you did get me worked up during our ride."

"All part of my plan babe," she said as she led the blonde into the cabin the into the smaller of the two bedrooms. To the blonde's shock two of her friends were waiting there for her, Emily and Joan. What got her attention was how they were dressed. They were both wearing long dark blue satin dresses that reached the floor. They were both from a club that she frequented with the brunette.

"Emily and Joan, get her ready for the main event and wait until your called out."

"Ok blondie let's get you ready for the main event. If you haven't figured it out by now you're the star of the show," said Emily. The two women proceeded to get the blonde ready. The blonde looked at the items on the bed and was surprised to see they were all bright white. They removed her clothes and handed her the matching bra and panty set, then a corset and white stockings. Once they were on they brought out the beautiful wedding dress Sarah would wear. Joan led her out of the room and towards the front of the cabin where Ellie stood waiting for her. Ellie was dressed in a similar fashion except her gown was ivory in color. Beside her was a minister who along with Ellie watched as Sarah made her way to the front. When they got to Ellie, she said, "We've been together for over two years, and I love you with all my heart, and I heard you every time you talked about getting married. This is my surprise; will you marry me?"

Sarah had tears in her eyes as she answered, "yes."

"Then we can get on with the ceremony. Reverend, you're up." The service was over quickly and the paperwork taken care of. The two newlyweds retired to the bedroom to make love for the first time as a couple. They spent the next few days relaxing and walking in the woods near the cabin. It was early Tuesday morning when the couple ended their short but eventful honeymoon and began their trip back to the real world. They were almost home from the cabin when Sarah's phone rang, "Walker secure but not alone…he did what...the mark is Chuck Bartowski...there must be some mistake…no sir I'll handle it…Walker out." When she finished with her call she turned to Ellie and asked, "Ellie is Chuck working today?"

"He has the afternoon shift, why?"

"We have a big problem. My ex-partner Bryce Larkin stole some program called the intersect, then for some unknown reason he sent it to Chuck."

"That rat bastard. If I ever see him again I'll kill him," snarled Ellie.

"I need to get it back before something bad happens to Chuck. Beckman is sending an old school killer type, to get it back. We need to head straight to the Buy More." Ellie put the pedal to the metal and speed down the road as fast has she could go. Weaving in and out of traffic in ways that would make seasoned race car drivers jealous it didn't take Ellie long before she pulled into the parking lot executing a perfect drift against the curb in front of the Buy More. Ellie didn't even get her car in park before Sarah was out of the car and running into the store. Sarah quickly found Chuck, who was manning his normal station at the Nerd Herd desk.

"Chuck we have to go now," Sarah said all the while looking around the store for possible threats.

"Is something wrong with Ellie?" before he could say anything else he caught Ellie running to the desk out of the corner of his eye. "I can't just leave…" his words were cut off when Ellie grabbed his arm and forcefully pulled him from behind the desk.

Sarah pulled her CIA credentials out and showed them to Chuck, "I work for the CIA not an accountant like I said, now let's go." Chuck was about to say something when Ellie spoke up.

"Screw your job Chuck. We need to leave now; Sarah will explain everything in the car." Morgan having watched the scene before him unfold, scampered across the store to find out what was going on. When he was within a few feet of catching them to find out what the heck was happening Ellie turned and snapped, "Back off Morgan this doesn't concern you." Morgan stopped dead in his tracks with a hurt look on his face.

Chuck was in a complete state of shock caused by the things he had just seen and heard. He couldn't remember his sister acting the way she was now. Sure she stood up for him in the past, but it was always in a quiet and calm manner. The way she was acting now reminded him of a momma bear protecting her cubs. On top of that he had just been informed his sisters roommate worked for the CIA. He was in such a mental fog that they had to force Chuck into the car before pulling out of the lot. During the drive to Ellie's Sarah explained what had taken place to start all the madness he was now involved in. Chuck described to them in detail everything he could remember from the night before about his opening the email. From the questions that appeared on the screen to all the pictures he had seen.

"Chuck, Bryce sent you some highly classified information in that email. It's my job to get it back so I'm going to need your computer so I can send it to our tech guys to look at. You'll probably never see it again."

"No worries you can have it. When I woke up this morning and checked it out it I discovered it was fried beyond repair. I doubt your tech people will be able to get any information off it but they can try."

"Our biggest problem is going to be the agent the NSA sends to retrieve the data. My guess is he will come to our place first then the Buy More. Don't worry about him too much I plan to make sure nothing happens to you."

"What's going to happen to me?" asked Chuck who by now was in full freak out mode.

"That I can't answer for sure but I can tell you it won't be anything bad. I head up the best counter terrorism unit in the country. That gives me a lot of pull in the intelligence community."


	2. Meeting the Bosses

When they arrived at Ellie's, where, just as Sarah figured, standing in the courtyard was Casey with his hand on his sidearm ready to be raised. Sarah pulled her weapon before exiting the car and immediately pointed it at Casey.

"Casey, this is Chuck Bartowski, the person Larkin sent the intersect to. Before you do something stupid, Chuck has already agreed to turn over his computer to us for evaluation. He says there's no use looking at it and I believe him because he fixes the things for a living. Lower your weapon so we can go inside and use the secure connection in my office to contact our bosses to find out what they want us to do."

"I have my Orders Walker, and they're to bring him in," he tried to raise his weapon to a firing position and a silenced shot was fired. Casey grabbed his shoulder and dropped to his knees.

"How fucking stupid are you Casey," questioned Ellie as she went over to him and started tending to his wound. "Sarah earned her nickname the Enforcer. Did you really think she wouldn't shoot you?"

"John Casey, Major in the Marines, NSA agent also known as Alex Coburn…" Chuck started to rattled off but before he could complete his sentence Sarah cut him off.

"How do you know that Chuck," Sarah asked.

"I have no idea. When you said his name everything about him popped into my head in a flash of information."

"Let's get inside and call the bosses, this just changed the game." It didn't take Sarah long to establish the secure connections and the images of Beckman and Graham to appear on the screen in Sarah's office. While she was doing that Ellie was working on Casey's shoulder. Sarah's aim was true and he only suffered a superficial wound so stitches would be enough. "Chuck this is Langston Graham of the CIA, my boss and General Beckman, NSA. Can you explain to them what happened just now?"

"Before we get started," began Graham, "Who is that woman and why is she here? This is a classified briefing."

"She's Ellie Bartowski, Chuck's sister and a member of my task force. She's been read in and vetted for all missions I may have to undertake," answered Sarah.

"Very well Agent Walker, proceed mister Bartowski."

"First, please call me Chuck. Sarah said Casey's name then suddenly I knew a lot about him like his service record and NSA affiliation even though before today I never heard of him." Chuck went on to explain everything from the night before; starting with his opening the email and ending with his waking up on the floor.

Beckman was the first to address the group, "It appears Chuck was able to retain at least some of the information contained in the email; the question is how much of it was he able to retain and use effectively? If he retained most of it and he has the ability to use the information it's proof the Omaha project worked, just not like we planned. The next question is what to do with Bartowski?"

"For now I suggest that agent Walker pose as his girlfriend for his protection," added Graham. Ellie and Sarah stared at each other with puzzled looks on their faces before Sarah spoke up.

"That's not a good idea for several reasons."

"And what would they be?" questioned Graham.

"A big reason is I'm gay, as in a lesbian, I'm out, loud and proud. I'm also very active in the LGBTQ community here so there's no way in hell anyone will believe I switched teams. But the biggest reason is I don't think my wife wants me dating her brother." That statement caused Chuck to swing his eyes toward Ellie and his jaw to fall open. It took a few seconds for Chuck to fully process the information before he started to talk again.

"Ellie you're gay and married?" Chuck said still looking over at Ellie who was putting the final touches on Casey.

"Yes I am. I wanted to tell you for so long but I was afraid of how you would react."

"El, you're my sister and I love you no matter what," Chuck said with a smile. He looked over at Sarah who was still talking to Beckman and Graham. "Besides, you have great taste in woman. She's beautiful."

"Yeah she is," Ellie said using a whist full tone, "and she's all mine." Another conversation was taking place across the room.

"To answer your questions," Sarah began, "We invited Casey in to explain what was going on and to wait before doing anything stupid. He tried the 'I have my orders' speech he always uses so I pulled my weapon and told him to stand down. He went for his gun so I winged him. He must have thought I'd let him, then we'd stand there pointing our weapons at each other arguing over who gets him, then make a dumb ass comment about pancakes. He should know that shit doesn't work with me. Before you make any rash decisions like a bunker we need to see how much Chuck can actually do."

"If he did in fact become the first human intersect he will need protection at the very least," stated Beckman.

"She's right Walker. We can't have all our secrets running around loose," added Graham.

"I know that Sir, but keep in mind I head an elite anti-terrorism task force and if he is capable of recalling the information he would be a great addition. Every intelligence agency in the country could benefit from him. He would have to be trained before we let him in the field."

"Agent Walker," the General cut in, "that all sounds great but how can we protect him when he's alone?"

"He can move in with you two," Graham began before he was cut off by a loud NO coming from across the room. All eyes shifted to Ellie as she came back into view of the camera.

"I love my brother but it took me months to get him out of our place and now that I'm married I don't want him back, sorry Chuck," giving him sympathetic glance. "I know all the tricks you guys use thanks to Sarah. You can hire Chuck as an outside contractor, make him an agent or hire him on as a government employee at the appropriate pay grade. Then you assign him here on a TDY assignment and put him up in an apartment near us; if that can't be arranged have him move in with Casey. Problem solved." Ellie finished with a smile.

"Don't I get a say in this?" asked Chuck a little on the mad side.

"Chuck," Sarah began and placed a comforting hand on his leg, "there's a lot of bad people in the world and you can help stop them. I'm not talking about your everyday robbers and murders either. I'm talking about people who would sell arms to third world countries to start a war so they could make money, people that kidnap children and sell them as slaves to get the money to buy the arms they need for that war."

Ellie chimed in at this point, "I know you Chuck, you'd do anything you could to help people even if you got hurt. We don't want you to get hurt. If anyone found out about you they would do whatever it took to get you, even come after me. I have Sarah to keep me safe but until you get close to her level you'll need help. We'll be here every step of the way for you."

"You two make a compelling argument," stated Beckman who looked at Graham who nodded his head in agreement. "I have some funding for special projects left over I can use for this and if it works out well I can ask for more funding and get it."

"I'm not thrilled with all this for several reasons," began Chuck. "First I'm not sure I can do this. Second, I'm not sure I could shoot anyone let alone kill them. Those people have families you know. And third what do I tell my friends?"

"When I was growing up I ran cons with my father," began Sarah. "One of the things he taught me was tell them something close to the truth and keep it simple. Tell them you got a job working on a government project dealing with computers," explained Sarah. "About the people you may have to hurt, think about Ellie. How would she feel if _you_ got killed because you were worried about someone else's family and not her? What if you had the chance to kill a bad guy but didn't and they killed Morgan or Anna? Remember Chuck these people don't care how many people get hurt or die as long as they get what they want. You can do anything you put your mind to Chuck, Ellie told me that." Chuck responded with a defeated sigh.

"Now that most of it is settled," said Beckman, "I'll send some files to Walker for Chuck to review during the week to see how much he can recall. If he does well, we can put the wheels in motion. Chuck think over which plan will work out best for you and let Sarah know. If you decide to become an agent let us know what agency you want to work for so we can set up your training."

"If anything comes up let us know ASAP so we can take action," stated Graham as he signed off.

"This tanks big time," moaned Chuck. "Why does Bryce keep screwing up my life?"

"Don't look at it like he messed up your life Chuck," Ellie began. "Look at it like he added another chapter to it, you always wanted to be a superhero helping people out and saving the day, well now's your chance. Know this, if he ever shows his face around here, we'll kill him." This sediment was echoed by Sarah and Casey.

"Ellie, Sarah, I'm going to need some help with this decision. What are your thoughts on what I should I do?"

"I would go with becoming and agent. The other options are good but are more restrictive in scope. As an agent you can skirt around some of the legal issues you will encounter," answered Ellie.

"I agree with Ellie but it's still your choice and we will stand by any choice you make." Casey had been quiet the entire time finally spoke up.

"I have to hand it to you two ladies. I've never seen the General cave in so fast before, how the hell did you know it would work?"

"Simple, my task force is made up of people from all the three letter agencies, including Homeland Security and is very well known in the intelligence community. I deal with the brass types all the time and that gives me an edge. Beckman knew she couldn't win as soon as I brought it up. Every agency will want Chuck if I tell them what he can do. It would start a shit storm she doesn't want or need. This way she can take the lead and head up this project."

"Damn Walker, when did you become such a political animal?"

"When I fell in love with Ellie. I learned all the ins and outs of the political game and the loopholes needed to keep me here. My getting control of the task force is one of them, and they are happy with the results."

"I've heard of it before but didn't think it was yours. The last I heard about you was you were partnered with Larkin."

"That ended quickly. Asshole kept trying to get into my pants even though he knew I'm a lesbian. He kept telling me he could 'fuck me straight'." This was said with a snort. "The last time he tried I ruptured his nuts and broke his arm. I got my transfer right after that. So, do you still believe the rumors that I sleep with all my partners?"

"I think today cleared that up. I better go and ice down this shoulder then find a place to stay near here. Let's go Chuck. I can give you a ride home and work on the security for your place."

"Since we are going to be working together and I apparently can't be left alone why don't you crash at my place until everything gets worked out?" asked Chuck.

"I think that will work for now until I can get everything set up."

The week passed quickly and Saturday morning Sarah woke up first and got busy making breakfast. The smell of coffee woke Ellie and she joined Sarah in the kitchen.

"You're up early today Sarah, what gives?"

"Beckman sent the files she wants Chuck to look at yesterday and I was going to contact him this morning to let him know I have them. With the time difference she probably already called him which means your brother will be here soon." She no sooner finished her statement when Ellie's phone rang and her brothers face appeared on the screen.

"Speak of the devil. Hey Chuck."

"Morning El, I just want to set up a time for me to look at those files Beckman sent over."

"Hold on a second while I put Sarah on the phone." She handed her phone to Sarah.

"Morning Chuck, give me a minute to boot the system up so I can check my email." She headed to the spare room and booted up her computer.

"No problem Sarah."

"I have them. She sent about twenty files for you to check out. Give us an hour to eat and get dressed then come over."

"Sure thing Sarah, tell Ellie I'll see her later."

"Bye Chuck. There goes our Saturday," sighed Sarah.

"No worries Sarah, we had a great weekend last week. Let's hope this goes poorly and they leave Chuck alone after that."

"I hate to break the bad news to you Ellie. But in addition to the files, Beckman sent some other information she got from Graham." Sarah stated while mixing the batter for pancakes. "It seems when Chuck was at Stanford there was a CIA recruiter on staff there looking for candidates for the Omaha project. Chuck was in one of his classes and aced the subliminal imaging retention test with a 98. They were going to recruit him then but Larkin got him expelled for cheating on that test. The CIA put his file away as not acceptable, do not recruit. Then last week happened. When they did the back ground check on him they found he was listed as possible candidate for the Omaha Project. They reviewed his test results during the week because they now believe that Chuck didn't cheat and the results they have are correct."

"So you're telling me Chuck would already be an agent if Larkin hadn't got him expelled?"

"Yes, but only if he accepted, and knowing Chuck he would have," Sarah answered while checking the sausage links and flipping the pancakes.

"You know my brother almost as well as I do."

"We've been together for several years now and I've spent a lot of time with him. Plus, I'm a spy," she added a wink and a smile when she finished. "Foods ready so go sit down and I'll bring your plate over."

Once they finished eating and cleaning up they got dressed and waited for Chuck. He arrived a short time later with Casey. After they all exchanged greetings Sarah led them to the spare room.

"Let's get this show on the road," said Chuck.

"I'm going to show you some images, some faces and play some voice recording for you. All you have to do is tell us the information you recall."

"Sounds easy enough. I'm ready when you are." The group could tell before Chuck said anything that he recalled something. His eyes would flutter and he would freeze up for a second before relaying the information. The entire test took less than an hour.

"Good job Chuck," said Sarah.

"What do you mean good job Walker, he only answered ten times out of the twenty-four. That's piss poor in my books. I guess we can wrap this up and get back to our regular jobs," said Casey.

"Looks like I dodged a bullet today." Ellie just rolled her eyes at the guys and looked at Sarah who was also rolling her eyes.

"It's no wonder I like woman if all men are like you two," began Sarah. "He got them all right." Seeing the strange looks the men were now giving her she went on to explain. "Beckman and Graham sent dummy files with the real ones. It was the only way to ensure he didn't get any false hits. I'm sorry Chuck but the bullet hit you in square in the ass."

"Crap. Now I have to decide which agency to join. Any suggestions?"

"Let me contact our new bosses and give them the results, then Casey and I can tell you about our agencies. I'll clear it so on Monday you can come with me to work and talk to the other members of the task force and weigh your options."

"Thanks Sarah, now I just have to figure out what to tell Morgan and Big Mike."

"Remember what Walker said, make up something close and keep it simple. Better call the bosses and give them the results before it gets too late back east," added Casey. A few keystrokes later and the screen showed both Graham and Beckman seated next to each other with a few other people Chuck hadn't seen before. Beckman started off the briefing,

"Before we hear the results I want to introduce the heads of the other agencies to you all. I have been selected to oversee the intersect project with Graham as my second. Walkers idea was accepted pending on whether he passed the test or not. If he passed the test he will be working with the task force. How did he do Agent Walker?"

"He correctly identified the all the correct files and recalled one hundred percent of the information. He didn't flash on any of the dummy files. He was even able to process the audio tracks you had concerns about. In my opinion he is the human intersect."

"Chuck," when can we expect your answer on what agency you want to work under," asked the head of the FBI.

"Sir, I need some time to decide that. I would like to talk with members of each agency and see which one would be the best fit for me. Sarah is trying to get me cleared to meet with the task force tomorrow so I can talk with the agents there. I hope to know by Wednesday at the latest."

"As far as I'm concerned you are cleared to meet with the task force and any of my agents," stated Beckman. "Does anyone here object to him meeting your people?" Getting no objections from the other people she soldiered on "Since there are no objections, Walker can you give him a ride tomorrow?"

"Sure, no problem. We'll work out the details later."

"I've already selected Major Casey as my agent, Walker will represent the CIA per Graham's request, Miller from the DEA will report tomorrow. Homeland and the FBI are still undecided. That's all for now people" and the feed ended.

"Is she always that abrupt," asked Chuck.

"Yep," answered Sarah popping the p. "You get used to her after a while. Now that we know where we stand, we need to work on Chuck's living arrangements."

"What's wrong with where I live?"

"One word," answered Ellie, "Morgan. That man couldn't keep a secret if his life depended on it, and with yours depending on it I'm not taking that chance. Plus, he has boundary issues, as in he doesn't respect anyone's. He'd find your weapons really quick, then you'd have to explain it to him and then the world would know."

"I agree with Ellie on this one. I was only at your place a few nights and I caught the bearded troll sniffing around my bags," stated Casey.

"Weapons? What are you saying, that I will have guns in my place?" asked a shocked Chuck.

"Of course Chuck," said Casey. "Like it or not you are the most valuable intelligence asset in the country. You'll need to be armed or within reach of a weapon twenty-four seven."

"This keeps getting better and better doesn't it?" said Chuck.

"It's not so bad Chuck," Ellie chimed in. "Sarah has weapons stashed all over the house and you've never seen one." While she was speaking, she reached under her chair and pulled out a 1911 A1, released the magazine, ejected the round clearing the chamber, locked the slide to the rear, verified the chamber was empty and handed the weapon to Chuck. Chuck just stared at his sister as she went through the procedure with practiced ease.

"Damn Ellie that was perfect," stated Casey. "Just how good are you with weapons?"

"My wife tells me I'm better than most agents she's worked with. Once we got serious about each other she wanted me to be able to defend myself if something happened while she was away."

"She's being modest now," Sarah said with a smile, "she's almost as good as I am with throwing knives and is better than most in martial arts."

"One thing I learned from Sarah is we will never be normal, we'd be extraordinary."

"Not that it's important, but you don't do any work with her do you sis?" asked Chuck.

Ellie knew the day would come up when she would have to spill the beans on a few things she had done with Sarah. "Only a few times," this got a raised eyebrow from Sarah, "I was onsite as the medic in case things went pear shaped. Those times only happened because the Intel came in late and their medic was too far out to help. Enough about me, back to Morgan, in addition to the weapons, do you think you could keep him away from the computer you will be getting? It's cutting edge and brand new. How long before he tries using it because he wants to, which will lead to a breech being detected and agents to swarm the place. Then they secure him, charge him with espionage and lock him in deep dark hole never to be seen again?"

Ellie's speech had Casey wondering just how involved she was in Walkers spy life. He decided to wait a bit on that until Chuck was out of ear shot. The chance came sooner than later as Chuck jumped off the small sofa and ran to the bathroom mumbling about Mexican food.

"Ok you two, talk and I want the truth. If we are going to be partners I have the right to know." Ellie looked at Sarah and saw her nod so she answered.

"We've worked together a few times when they needed two women, then a few times when an issue suddenly came up and Sarah needed back up in a hurry." Ellie went over some of the minor missions they had gone on while Sarah added on to Ellie's list.

"Don't forget the time we did that mission on the cruise ship, good times there," Sarah sighed.

"Or fashion week in Milan."

"The Australian Open when they thought Sharapova was a Russian spy."

"Africa to grab that Justine guy posing as a doctor but was really an enemy spy."

"Ok ladies ok. I get the picture; you can handle yourselves if you need to. How do you keep Chuck from finding out?"

"A few things you need to know about my brother since you'll be working with him. First he's a genius, loves computers and prefers to be called a nerd not geek. When it comes to simple everyday things we take for granted he misses most of them. Sarah and I went everywhere together, were living together for a year with only one bedroom and he still didn't figure out I'm a lesbian. We just tell him were taking a sudden trip and off we go."

"I guess I better keep him on a short lease then so he doesn't get himself in trouble," Casey thought out loud.

"I'm not sure if Chuck swings that way or not, but if he doesn't I have a few guys at work that might be interested in you," quipped Ellie causing Sarah to laugh and Casey to hold his hands up and shake his head.

"Not that way Ellie. Next question, where is he going to live?"

"I haven't worked that part out yet but since Beckman wanted him to move in with Ellie, I'm thinking we can have Carina pose as his girlfriend and she can live with him."

"Is Carina the hot red head we worked with in Paris?"

"That's her."

"She'll eat my brother for lunch, you know that right?"

"He'll be fine he's a big boy...then again this is Carina were talking about." Just then Chuck walked back in and sat back down.

"We were talking about your cover," Sarah said, "if your gay Casey said he'd love to keep you on a short leash, if you're into that. If your straight Carina Miller will pose as your girlfriend so you two will move in together." Ellie was laughing her ass off because of what her wife said and Casey had a look of shock on his face. Chuck also looked taken back by the Casey remark.

"No leashes or men for me. I'll take Carina."

"Good choice little brother, she's hot." Sarah just nodded her head. "You'll meet her tomorrow when you go in with Sarah. Now that the hard part is over, why don't you two men get comfortable and get to know each other a little better while we get started on dinner, you're both staying." She finished, grabbed Sarah's hand and walked out.

Casey was about to object when Chuck said, "Let it go Casey, when Ellie makes up her mind she gets what she wants. You know how they say pick the battles you can win? This isn't one of them. It'll be worth it though, they're both great cooks."


	3. Meeting the team

**Early Monday morning Sarah's secure office**

Sarah, Ellie and Casey were waiting for the unexpected conference to begin. Beckman had called them during the night asking them to meet an hour before they had to head to CTTF. The monitor came to life and the image of Beckman appeared."

"Good morning agents. I'm going to vary this briefing a bit from normal. You both know that for many years there has been a large issue of trust between the NSA and CIA. My predecessors had issues with how the CIA, under Graham, tried to entice young people to join them by using personal issues against them. They began inserting NSA people into the CIA disguised as broken kids."

"So we have agents of ours in the CIA doing what?" asked Casey.

"Most our people are desk jockeys that never see the field. They subtlety assist these kids the best they can. Another thing they do is alert some of the kids to Graham's plans and offer them a way out."

"Do you think Graham is dirty?" asked Casey.

"I don't know about that yet; I'm talking about his being unscrupulous in his dealings with recruits that should never have been selected. The NSA has had its suspicions about him in the past, but could never prove anything."

"I never did like him," groused Casey.

"John, what I'm going to tell you is a closely guarded secret known only to a handful of people. Around ten years ago a young girl was being hunted by the CIA in hopes of luring her into being an agent. Graham believed she was seventeen, but in reality she was a few years older. He figured he could use her father's crimes as a con artist against her and force her to join the CIA." Beckman paused here to take a drink from her coffee mug.

"Her being the daughter of a can man paid dividends when it came to creating false identities. What Graham didn't know was she had already enlisted in the Navy using her real name to escape that life. A recruiter for the NSA got to her soon after her enlistment started but prior to Graham and offered her a chance to go to college on the nations dime as long as she served four years with the NSA. During her junior year in school Graham began his full court press to get her to join. She went to her handler and informed him. They developed a plan where Graham could _find_ her recovering money her father supposedly hid. She agreed to join," Beckman said using air quotes, "the CIA in hopes of preventing this from happening to other kids in the future. She switched schools to fall in line with the CIA program. When she graduated she was commissioned in the Navy as an intelligence specialist at the rank of Lieutenant."

"General, from what you are telling us she is your pick to be the team lead? And if so when does she get here?" asked Casey. He turned and looked at the two women in the room because he was confused at the giggling coming from them.

"Yes Major Casey she's going to be the team lead. The answer to your second question is sitting next to you. Major Casey I'd like to formally introduce you to NSA Agent Sarah Walker, Commander United States Navy."

"Commander Ma'am? Really?" Sarah shouted as she jumped from her chair to accept hugs and congratulations from Ellie.

"Yes Commander, I had your promotion fast tracked and it came across my desk last month before all the intersect shit came down. That was the good news, now the bad. Casey asked me if I thought Graham was dirty. One of my good friends that works in Langley informed me a few weeks ago there are rumors floating around that indicate Graham could be dirty. Please be careful on how you deal with his intel."

Sarah was slightly taken back by the news about Graham possibly being dirty, but was pleased about the other news she received from the General. "Thank you General, I'll keep that in mind when it comes to the missions Graham assigns us."

"I'll leave you to get to work. Remember John, keep Walkers cover in place. See you in a few hours," said Beckman before she disconnected the call.

"Congratulations on your promotion Ma'am," said Casey as he stood to shake her hand.

"Thank you Casey. Fates a fickle bitch isn't she?" began Sarah giving Casey a less than favorable look, "All those negative comments you made about me in the past, my being a CIA skirt and honey trap come to mind. Turns out all along I'm one of yours. You'd do well to remember that in the future _Major_. Let's go Ellie. Casey has crow to eat and some thinking to do before work."

Not many things shocked John Casey but this was one of them. Finding out that Sarah Walker, an agent he thought very little of in the past, was an NSA agent that had been undercover in the CIA for her entire career. She now out ranked him as well. He realized he had a lot to think over in the coming days.

Monday CTTF

Chuck and Sarah entered the Counter Terrorism Task Force (CTTF) headquarters and headed straight to the briefing room. Sarah took her seat at the far end of the table facing the large screen TV that was mounted on the wall opposite her. Chuck took the seat to her left and they waited for the rest of the selected agents to arrive.

"How you doing so far Chuck?"

"Not too bad considering what's going on. I'm still not liking this a whole lot. It's hard to believe last week I was working at the Buy More making peanuts, now I'm about to become a spy," he sighed. "On the bright side I'm glad I can keep some things normal in my life like game nights with Morgan. I think I'll get used to it in time however." Just then Casey made his entrance and sat to Sarah's right.

"Walker, Bartowski," he said with a sight grunt coming through. "Casey" was their reply. The door opened again and a stunning red head entered the room and her face lit up in a smile when she saw Sarah.

"Sarah," the red head exclaimed, "long time no see." As she walked over to Sarah who had risen from her chair to give her a big hug.

"You too Carina. You know Casey of course, this is Chuck Bartowski, he will be joining the team when he completes his training."

"He's cute, in a geeky kind of way," she said while eyeing Chuck up and down like a piece of meat. "Two questions, where's Larkin? I was told this new unit is supposed to be made up of the top agents from several agencies. Which leads to my second question, why is Bartowski here?"

"I have no idea where Larkin is, why would I? Chuck's presence will be explained during the briefing so you'll need to wait." They spent the next few minutes catching up on the past while they waited for the others to arrive. The next to arrive was Stephen Reynolds the representative from the FBI. He was followed by Jackie Stone of Homeland Security. The newly assembled group spent the next hour getting to know each other while drinking coffee or tea and eating the sweet treats that had been provided.

"Alright people please take your seats, the briefing is ready to begin," Sarah announced. She sat in her chair, pushed a button on the side of the table that brought a hidden laptop into view. She began typing on it and a few minutes later the large screen on the wall turned on displaying the face of Beckman. Sarah made the introductions then turned the briefing over to Beckman.

"What we discuss in this room goes no further, not even your supervisors can be informed. Is that understood?" a round of yes Ma'am followed.

"Your superiors assured me that you are among the best agents your agencies have to offer. This assignment will test your skills and then some. We've recently learned there is a rogue group of former spies and former members of the military out there called Fulcrum. It is their belief that the country has gone soft so they are trying to take over the government from within and mold it into what they believe our nation should be. In addition to what you do on a normal basis it will be your job to stop them." She paused for a moment to look around the room and became alarmed when she saw Chucks face. He was pale as a ghost and glassy eyed. "Walker is Chuck alright?"

Sarah looked over at Chuck and noticed he looked ready to faint. She whispered a few things in his ear and placed her hand on his knee for support. He gave her a small nod and motioned for her to continue.

"Chuck, let me know if you need a few minutes and we can take a small break," said Beckman. Chuck gave her a nod and small smile. "I'm going to make a long story short. In an attempt to streamline our intelligence community after nine eleven a plan was put in place to store all of our data in one location. This computer system was designed to use certain clues to recall that information. Last week it was stolen by a rogue CIA Agent Bryce Larkin and sent to Chuck. When he viewed the data sent to him, somehow he was able to retain all the information he saw. We tested him over the weekend to verify his ability to correctly recall and use the data. He passed all the tests without error. Chuck is the first human intersect." During Beckman's speech all the people at the table turned and looked at Chuck with wide eyes. He gave them a small wave similar to a young child.

"In addition to stopping Fulcrum, your job will be the protection of Chuck. As of Sunday he became the most important intelligence asset the government has. Agent Walker suggested that in addition to our protection he be trained as an agent because he would be more valuable and effective in the field rather than in a van or office. After this briefing concludes he wants to speak to each one of you individually before he makes his decision. Are there any questions so far on what I went over?"

"General, the logistics of his protection during off duty time and down time will be problematic at best. Is there a plan yet on how we do it?" asked Reynolds.

"There is. Several blocks from Walkers place there is an apartment complex that has several vacancies. While Chuck is away at training you will be moving in to those units. They will be modified and updated to fit our needs. When he returns he will be moving in with agent Miller, who will pose as his girlfriend."

"Oh goody, I get my own boy toy," Carina said with a predatory look in her eyes. If that wasn't enough to worry Chuck, the fact she was rubbing her hands together was. Sarah just sighed.

"Will we be operating out of here or someplace else?" quarried Agent Stone from homeland.

"There are two answers to your question Agent Stone," began the General, "The unused sub-basement of the Buy More has been acquired by the NSA and will be renovated to meet our needs so it can be used for any intersect related missions. I also secured the building across the plaza that will be an Orange Orange frozen yogurt cover business used by us to enter castle. We will have trainees operating the front counter. It will allow you unrestricted access to the new substation. There will be dedicated agents monitoring the parking area around the double O and Buy More. When there is no actionable information on Fulcrum you will assist Walkers task force or your own agency."

"What about the security at the complex?" asked Reynolds.

"Casey with the help of the NSA will install cameras and motion sensors around Chuck's apartment. Agents in the double O will be able to monitor them during downtime. With Carina living with Chuck we don't believe internal monitoring will be needed," answered Sarah.

"Damn," sighed Carina looking at Chuck, "I always wanted to be a film star." It took a few moments before the laughter ended and Beckman spoke again.

"If there are no more questions my portion of the briefing is finished. Walker they're all yours."

"Before I conclude this briefing and you talk to Chuck about your agencies I need to give you some more information on Chuck," began Sarah, "He's probably one of the smartest people in the world but too modest to tell anyone, he'll do anything for you even at his own expense. And the big one, he's a hacker extreme," Chucks eyes grew as wide as dinner plates and his jaw dropped when he heard this, "known as the Piranha. Chuck can you explain that to us?"

"I've liked computers for as long as I can remember," Chuck started, "My dad used to work on them before he left. He showed me how to decipher computer languages and write codes. The older I got and the internet got bigger I grew with it. I met some people online who talked about hacking, got interested in that and began testing myself. I tried businesses first but they were easy so I moved up to government sites. I began build my rep online and was given the nickname 'Piranha' by a guy known as 'Hacker two three'. He helped me a time or two and gave me some awesome codes. I did it for fun, not to get information," concluded Chuck.

Sarah glanced at Chuck and said, "I want us to be a close knit team with little to no confrontations or secrets. This mission is too important to screw up, in essence your careers are riding on this. If we do well there is no limit to how far we can go, screw it up and the next job you will be able to get will be saying would you like fries with that order? Any questions?"

"Uhh, not a question Sarah, but can I say a few things?"

"Sure, the floor is yours."

"Thanks," Chuck said while getting up. "Like Sarah said please call me Chuck. Last week I was happily plodding along at the Buy More fixing computers, now I'm supposed to help save the country. I'm in way over my head here in case you missed my almost passing out earlier. I promise to work hard at this so you guys don't have to babysit me all day. Trust me I'm going to need a lot of help but I know I will be an asset to the team once we get rolling." When Chuck was finished he sat down Sarah explained a few more things before she ended the meeting. Casey and Sarah sat back and observed Chuck as he interacted with the other members one on one. He seemed to be enjoying himself more as he relaxed.

"How do you think the kids gonna do?"

"Good I hope, if he doesn't my wife will kill me."

"Any guess on what agency he will pick?"

"I have a good idea based on my knowledge of Chuck. He tends to stick with things he's familiar with and change ruffles his feathers. When he got the boot from Stanford he went right back to Ellie. It took us months to get him out of there and on his own. When he did leave he went right to Morgan, his best friend and they became roommates. He knows I work for the CIA and I'm familiar to him. So that's my guess."

"Makes sense," Casey said. "In a way I feel sorry for the kid. We signed up for this, he more or less got drafted."

"It would be a lot worse if Ellie wasn't allowed to know. You saw how he panicked about what to tell his friends. Could you picture him if he had to lie to her? Ellie is going to be a big help to him. He was in full blown panic mode last night. They video chatted most of last night and that helped calm him down."

"He really depends on his sister doesn't he?"

"Their parents split when they were young and Ellie raised him on her own. We think he has trouble separating between her as his sister or his mother. We need to be careful with him at the start or he could go south in a hurry."

"You know him pretty good, any suggestions?"

"Ellie and I have a few ideas. I said Chuck was smart, he can grasp anything thrown his way, but and it's a big but, he has to process it his own way. We can't treat him like another recruit, you know beat it into his head. We show him the correct way to do something and get out of his way." She paused for a minute to gather her thoughts before going on, "this is going to sound strange but here's how Ellie explained it to me. Think of him as a puppy you want to train, when he does something well, give him a treat, when he screws up let him know but show or tell him the right way to do it. His parents leaving crushed him, then Larkin getting him booted and stealing his girlfriend made it worse. Our opinion is we need to build his confidence up, once we do that the sky is the limit for him."

"I think when he starts training that should help."

"How so Casey?"

"We see it all the time in the Corps during boot camp, kids come in all the time not sure of themselves or what to expect. Once they start getting things right on a regular basis their confidence grows quickly. The approach is different but the end result is the same. I have to ask, is Ellie ok with all of this?"

"She's torn between yes and no right now. On one hand she believes it could be the kick in the ass he needs to do something more than work in a Buy More. On the other hand, she now has two people who mean the world to her risking their lives at work." Sarah glanced away from Casey and towards Chuck, "He looks like he's wrapping it up now, let's go see if he made his decision."

Casey and Sarah walked over to where Chuck was standing talking to Carina and were surprised to see his arm around her waist. They were laughing at something she said.

"Hey guys," he said. "I'm ready when you are." That's when Chuck noticed they were both looking at his arm around Carina, "What? Oh no, no, it's not like that!"

"Relax Chuckles," Carina said through a giggle, "we were talking over our cover and he explained his aversion to public displays of affection. So I told him we need to be able to sell the fact that we are a couple or we could end up dead so I made him put his arm around me. At first he was shaking like a leaf but the more we talked the more relaxed he became. We were laughing because I told him his next lesson was public necking and he came back with, as long as the lesson after that isn't public sex I'll be ok." This caused the other two to begin laughing as well.

"I've got to tell Ellie that later."

"I didn't get a chance to tell you yet, but Ellie invited me over for dinner tonight, Carina and Casey too. She said she's making lasagna and I'm not missing that for the world," said Chuck.

"If you need a ride Casey can give you a lift and if not you can follow us," Sarah offered.

"I'll follow you guys there if that's ok? You don't mind swinging by my hotel so I can shower before we go head to Ellie's, my plane landed this morning and I'm kinda funky."

"No need for that Carina," said Chuck with a smile, "I can ride with you and wait in your room while you freshen up. When your done we can head over to Ellie's. It will save them waiting for us."

"That ok with you Sarah?"

"As long as you don't try anything funny, then sure."

"Funny? Me?" Carina said putting on her most innocent face. Sarah just rolled her eyes and Chuck smiled.

"Before you head out tell Beckman I'll join the CIA. Come on Carina lets go, I don't wanna be late for dinner." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the meeting room and to the others shock she was laughing as he did.

"I take back what I said earlier about Carina, maybe we should worry about her instead?" said Casey.

"This is uncharted waters for me. Every time I've seen him with a girl he's a blubbering mess. I've never seen him make the first move like that."

"Do you think we have to worry about them?"

"I'm not going to say a damn thing. Ellie wants me to get her cleared to join the team as a medical consultant when we have missions close to here, she had a blast on the missions we did together. How can I say other members of the team can't be together if my wife is on the team?"

"Good point Walker. We should call Beckman and let her know his decision." They both took seats at the far end of the table and brought up the video conference screen and waited for the General to answer.

"How did it go? And where is Chuck?"

"Very well General," replied Sarah, "Chuck made his decision today. He picked the CIA like I figured then high tailed it out of here with Carina."

"You let him go with her? Are you sure that's a good idea, based on her reputation she may break him."

"You better worry about Carina, Ma'am," stated Casey. "While they were talking he had her laughing, then when they left he was dragging her out by the hand and she was giggling like a school girl." Casey and Sarah both noticed the blank look on the Generals face before it returned to normal. "That was our reaction as well."

"One more thing before we go, Ellie wants to join the team as a medical consultant."

"I thought about asking her earlier but didn't know if she would be open to it. Then I did some digging through some of your past missions and found a few where your partner was referred to as Black Widow (no kiddies, not the one from Marvel). When I questioned Graham he informed me thinks it was your wife. You two did good work by the way. I have no problem with her joining the team as long as her job is ok with it."

"Thank you General I'll tell her tonight at dinner."

"If that's all I'll get his training set up and send you the dates. You'll need to bring him here to do his paperwork so we can start paying him." With that she closed the connection.

"That wraps it up for today Casey, I need to do a bit of paperwork before I leave so you can go. Remember be at our place around four." As Casey was leaving Sarah whispered under her breath, _I hope Carina keeps her mouth shut tonight._

When she arrived home she noticed that Casey's and Carina's cars were already there. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw when she entered her apartment. Chuck was seated on the couch next to Casey with Ellie standing behind them frantically waving her arms. In front of them was Carina moving her arms side to side to emphasize whatever point she was trying to make.

"Walker and I are pinned down by gunfire from three enemy agents at the base of the Eiffel Tower and we're low on ammo. Then I hear this banshee like scream and the Black Widow here," pointing at Ellie and causing Chuck's eyes to flutter, "comes flying out of nowhere, guns a blazing, taking out the three guys like it was a walk in the park. She was a woman possessed if you ask me. Craziest fucking thing I ever saw in my life." When she finished she took a bow and plopped down on the couch next to Chuck. That's when she noticed the look on Chuck's face, the panic on Sarah and Ellie's. Casey was trying to hold back a laugh because he knew what was coming.

"You told me you were going on a business trip for the hospital to learn a new surgical technique. You lied to me Ellie, how could you?" He attempted to get up but was held in place by Carina and Casey.

"I didn't lie to you Chuck, I just left out some parts of my trip, that part of the trip anyway. Besides what was I supposed to do, let my wife die?"

"What the hell," Carina said loudly, "Walker is your wife?" She asked and turned to face Sarah who was now making her way to Ellie, "and you didn't tell me?"

"That was supposed to be the point of this dinner, so we could tell you we're married," Sarah said sliding her arm around Ellie. "We didn't count on you doing a full recap of Paris before we could tell Chuck that Ellie has gone on missions." It took several minutes and lots of explaining before the situation was resolved. When things had calmed down the three agents gave Ellie a recap of the day including Chuck's comment. They all had a good laugh at that. Carina looked over to Sarah and gave her a wink.

Carina jumped to her feet and pulled Chuck up to her and planted a scorching kiss on him. At first he was taken back but suddenly got into it and pulled Carina in close and cupped her ass. It was the others turns to be shocked at the scene in front of them. When it became apparent the kiss wasn't going to end anytime soon, Casey let out a grunt that got their attention.

"If I let that go on any longer you would have gone into the public sex portion of the class. I don't need to see that." Sarah and Ellie both nodded their heads in agreement.

"Um, yeah, that wasn't supposed to happen," Carina said trying to compose herself but not letting go of Chuck.

"What she said, not that I'm complaining mind you," said Chuck who was looking flustered as well. "It's all good on my end."

This earned a smile from Carina and a confused look from Ellie.

"You two can let go anytime now," commented Ellie.

"Not the best idea right now Ellie," said Carina as she wiggled her hips a bit as if pointing out the reason and Chuck echoed her statement.

"For the love of Reagan, you two. I told you she was in trouble didn't I?"

"Yep," said Sarah.

"It won't be for a while either if you don't stop wiggling your hips. And you little brother have you no shame?"

"Ellie, first off it's a natural reaction, second she's gorgeous and really nice so how can you blame me?" Carina then slammed her lips on to his and he willingly accepted her tongue in his mouth.

"That's it! I'm getting a bucket of cold water and throwing it on you two if you don't break it off soon." Getting no reaction from the pair Ellie stomped into the kitchen causing the dishes in the break front to rattle. Ellie returned in short order with a large pot filled with water and ice. Seeing the couple had not broken apart yet she moved her arm back in preparation to toss the water and they broke apart.

After the two had separated, Ellie decided a break was in order. "Casey, we could use some more wine and since Chuck can't go by himself can you take him?"

"Let's go horn dog. I don't want to miss dinner," said Casey as he grabbed Chuck by the arm and pulled him out the door. As soon as the door closed Sarah rounded on Carina.

"What the hell was that about?" Carina flopped down on the couch and put an arm over her eyes while letting out a sigh.

"That wasn't supposed to happen again," Carina said. "but to answer your question, I have no idea." She peeked past her arm and saw the disbelieving expression on her friends face and tried the best she could to explain. "We talked about the cover on the way to my hotel, how we would handle the PDA aspect of it like kissing. He was nervous as hell, ya know. When we got to my room he asked if we could practice later, I said yes of course, because I don't want to end up dead. He pulled me into a hug and said thanks. We looked at each other and the next thing I know we're making out."

"That's not like my brother at all Carina."

"That's what he said as he was apologizing for what happened. I told him it was no big deal and not to worry because I enjoyed it. One thing led to another and we were close to jumping in bed when he stopped. He said he wasn't a hit them and quit them guy, that he needed more than that from a girl."

"Now that sounds like my brother."

"So I get cleaned up and dressed to come over. We had some time so we hung out and talked. He had me laughing my ass off at some of the things he was saying. For some reason I kept getting lost in his eyes, like I was hypnotized or something. Of all the things I learned about Chuck was how great a guy he is." Carina let out another big breath and reclined deeper into the couch. "I think he broke me. You know me Sarah, I'm all about sex, or was. Now after seeing you and Ellie, I find myself wanting more than that."

"I know just how you feel. The first time I looked into Ellies eyes I was toast," Sarah said while smiling at her wife.

"Ok you two, how do I go about this? Cause I have no idea."

Ellie was the first to answer, "Before today I would have said let Chuck set the pace, but now who knows. That still might be the best approach, just don't push him and it should work out fine."

"I agree with Ellie on this one. You're the first woman I've seen him with that he's not babbling like a fool around."

"You damn Bartowski's are kryptonite to a spy aren't cha?" asked Carina. "You guys knock the 'spies don't fall in love' crap out of the training doctrine."

"You can't be serious Carina, it's too soon for that," stated Sarah.

"I don't mean right now, but I could see it going that way."

They spent the next few minutes chatting waiting for the men to return. When they did return dinner was served. Over dinner the conversation turned to Chuck's training.

"I'd like to wait a few weeks before I head to training if it's ok?" asked Chuck.

"I'm sure that can be arranged for the right reasons," answered Sarah.

"I'd feel bad about not giving Big Mike two weeks' notice for starters. Plus, I have to let Morgan know I'm moving out. He's still my best friend and I owe him that much. Anna's been bugging him to get a place and this should speed it up. The last reason is strictly personal," said Chuck.

"You make some good points Chuck," agreed Ellie. "What are the personal ones?"

"Let me finish before you ask any questions please. When I get back I'm going to be living with Carina. I'd like to take Carina on few dates before I leave to see if we have a chance at something more. If we do then we can keep it going, if not then we'll be friends that are familiar with each other, not blindly getting into it."

"The kid makes sense Walker," Casey said.

"Since I'm a main player here I like Chuck's idea. We talked about my past before and he doesn't mind, but I'd like to give this dating thing a shot. Like Chuck said if we crash and burn at least it's before the mission starts," Carina stated with conviction.

"I'm still a little bit shocked by Carina, but you all have some good points. It will give her a chance to meet Chuck's friends plus help in your cover. I'll let Beckman know our plans."

"Now that business is finished I told Carina we'd go out for drinks to get better acquainted."

"Don't wait up Casey, he's staying with me tonight," Carina quipped over her shoulder as they left the apartment.

"I'm going to head out myself," said Casey. "You two ladies have a good night."

"You've known Carina longer than I have, do you think she's serious about Chuck?" inquired Ellie.

"Surprisingly I do. She talked with conviction in her voice about dating Chuck plus I've never seen her act like she did earlier on the couch."

"Good to know, now let's finish cleaning up then watch a movie before bed," suggested Ellie.

"Sounds like a plan," answered Sarah.

Beckman agreed with her teams' decision to delay Chuck's training for a few weeks allowing him to tie up his loose ends. In the end it would be almost six weeks before he could start because of the measures that were being put in place for his safety. Morgan as expected took Chuck's news badly until Anna stepped in and told him in no uncertain terms she was his new roommate. Chuck and Carina went on dates every night, ending up at Carina's place most nights. The girls had also started Chuck's training during this time, nothing major just slow jogging and light weights. On the weekends they went to the beach. The second time they went Chuck surprised his Sister and Sarah by showing up in a wet suit carrying a surf board.

"Uhh Chuck what's with the board?" asked his very confused sister. A huge smile appeared on his face as he told his story.

"After I moved in with Morgan I realized there is only so much of him I could take. Between working with him every day and living with him I needed a break once in a while. You know I love the ocean so I went to the beach," he began. Carina moved close to him and wrapped her arm around his waist causing him to smile.

"I didn't think I'd be any good at volleyball but surfing looked fun so I took lessons and when I got better I bought a board and wet suit. I come here whenever I can to relax. Plus, I enjoy the hell out of it," he finished.

"You're just telling me this now little brother," Ellie questioned with mock anger.

"I don't believe him Ellie so I made a bet with him. If he can actually surf I'd buy him dinner for a change then seal the deal on our relationship," Carina added in with her own beaming smile.

"I'll show you all," huffed Chuck and he headed to the water.

"You still haven't sealed the deal with Chuck?" asked a shocked Sarah.

"Nope, we told you we were playing for keeps," Carina said. The women watched from the beach as Chuck completed his first ride of the day and looked good doing it.

"Damn he's really good," said Ellie from her position on the blanket.

"How the hell did he keep us in the dark?" questioned Sarah.

"I have no idea. It proves he's good at keeping secrets." They watched Chuck complete a few more rides before reclining and getting some sun. The rest of the weeks prior to Chucks leaving went about the same way. it was decided Carina would accompany Chuck to the training location as a personal fitness trainer. Casey would pose as his fire arms instructor and provide additional security.


	4. Flaming Hands?

**AN:** I wrote this chapter mostly for fun and entertainment. If any of you went to the 'Chuck This' Blog in the past, you may have seen some of my posts. I always found it funny how many of the things from Chuck seemed to be taken from Kim Possible Fan Fiction written before Chuck aired. I pointed them out on the blog. Things like Kim's a hero who knows martial arts but won't kill, sees the good in everyone (Chuck), has a plucky, clumsy and goofy side kick (Ron/Morgan), has a tech genius supplying her with cool gadgets, is great hacker that no-one can find (Wade/Orion), works for a real hard ass woman (Betty/Beckman). In one story she gets 700 million dollars and buys a jet, sound familiar anyone? Just for fun I brought them to the Chuck verse in this chapter and the next couple. This chapter does advance the story and hopefully in a funny way.

 **Five months after Chuck's training ended.**

Chuck's training took longer than usual for most new recruits, not because he couldn't handle it, he mastered most of the classes quicker than the other recruits except for infiltration and seduction of enemy personnel. He had a hard time working the women like they trained him. Oddly enough it was Carina who got him straightened out. She told him to just act normal and treat the women like he would if he was meeting them at a club under normal circumstances and follow their lead from there.

Chuck realized during his second week of training that a lifetime spent sitting on the couch playing video games could not be corrected in three months. After several meetings they agreed to spread out the usual training to intersperse more physical training. They also made several other concessions during his training. He had to assist the task force and review files sent to him from Beckman which took up a good deal of his time. He spent several hours every day going over files then passing the information back to the correct agencies. The information he passed along allowed the task force to bring in a few rogue agents and stop several drug trafficking organizations that were funding Fulcrum. Besides the additional training he was placed in separate housing from the other recruits. This arrangement served a few different purposes, it allowed him privacy to review the files in case he flashed, he could precipitate in video conferences and the department heads of the agencies connected to the task force could come visit him.

About the three quarter mark of his training he called Beckman,

"Ma'am, I have something I think you should know."

"It must be important for you to be calling me direct and alone," she stated.

"It is. During some of my free time I played around with the NSA servers and found several back doors that were left open for some reason."

"So you got bored and hacked into our systems?"

"Pretty much," said Carina as waltzed back into the room taking a seat next to Chuck.

"Anyway, I took the existing architecture of the firewall and gave it a good look. I took some time to improve it by eliminating the holes and putting in fail safes that will automatically shut it down and alert your techs if anyone tried to hack in again."

"When can it be put into operation? And how serious is it?" asked Beckman.

"You can send a currier tomorrow and have your techs look it over. It's not serious yet but it could be. I back traced the trails left by the hacker and found it came from somewhere inside the CIA. It didn't look like they extracted data it was more like they were probing the system looking for a way in."

"I'll have it picked up tomorrow. I need to call Walker and let her know what you found. Check out her systems as well in case they need help with theirs. Beckman out."

"You didn't tell her you already upgraded the Task Forces firewalls?" asked Carina.

"Nope, I figured what she doesn't know won't hurt her. It's late so time for bed so hop to it."

"No argument from me," she said while heading to the bed room dropping articles of clothes along the way.

CTTF Headquarters

Chuck and Carina arrived together and headed straight to Sarah's office to check in. "Ready to see your office Chuck?" asked Sarah. "We followed your specs to the letter but left the placement of the computers to you. Follow me and we can get you started." They departed Sarah's office and went to the area of the building where Chuck's office was located and talked along the way.

"Sure am. I was telling Carina on the way over that I couldn't wait to see what you guys had set up for me. Designs on paper are one thing, seeing the finished product is another."

"I think you'll be happy with it. What we don't understand is the shape of the counter you wanted. Here we are." Sarah opened the door and Chuck's jaw almost hit the floor. A half circle shaped work station stood in the center of the room with ten monitors and keyboards sitting on top of it. A lone chair sat in the middle of the arch. On each wall hung two large monitors and located on the wall across from him was a door that was open, allowing Chuck to see the data storage area behind it.

"Give me a minute and I'll show you," said Chuck as he began moving the monitors and keyboards around. "This is why," he stated after he sat down. He began rolling on his chair from one setup to another, "I'll have eyes on all the systems at the same time and can move to the one I need quickly. It also allows me to work on several computers at the same time with little effort. The one thing I picked up from being a nerd is work smarter not harder." While he was talking he was showing them exactly what he meant, moving quickly between systems and bringing them to life. Within seconds lines of code were scrolling on his screens. "Unless we have a briefing, I'd like to get started on loading my software onto these machines."

"I don't have anything scheduled for today but Beckman did send over the daily information she wants you to look at," Sarah informed Chuck. "Let's go Carina your boy toy has work to do."

"Good. You can leave now," Chuck said as he immersed himself deeper in his work.

"Trust me Walker, once you've seen him naked, you'll never use boy and toy in the Sarah sentence when referring to Chuckles."

"Eww, Carina! That's my brother in law you're talking about." Sarah complained on their way out of the door. "Is something bothering Chuck? He seemed rather gruff telling us to leave."

"Nah he's fine. I learned really quick during his training when he gets into his cyber world he forgets about everything else."

"Really? We never noticed it before."

"I showed up to his place one night and found him sitting at his desk typing his ass off. There was a bottle of wine sitting next to the computer. I figured he was getting in the mood so I stripped naked and walked in front of him. He never noticed I was there."

"Do you have a filter you can turn on when talking about Chuck to me?"

"Nope," replied Carina with a saucy smirk.

Several hours later Chuck sat at his work station furiously typing on one of the keyboards when he was startled by a pair of arms snaking their way around his chest. He looked up to see his girlfriend staring at him with a mischievous look in her eyes. Just as their lips touched a soft female cough behind them cut them off. They looked up to see a very disgruntled brunette staring at them. Ellie was standing in the door, arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

"Do I have to carry an air horn around you two?"

"Sorry, El" Chuck answered sheepishly while Carina simply smiled.

"I stopped by to meet Sarah for lunch and wanted to see if you two wanted to join us." Before Chuck could answer Sarah showed up looking for Chuck.

"Hey babe," she said giving Ellie a peck on the cheek. "Sorry we can't do lunch, Beckman sent me a file she needs Chuck to look at right away." She was handing the file over while she was speaking. Chuck took the file and looked it over. Chucks eyes fluttered for a second then he spoke.

"This guy, James Washington, former NSA agent declared dead in two thousand one after a car accident. Served in the army as a SAPPER prior to joining the NSA. He's a demolition expert. That's all I have on him. The other three guys are members of Reclamation Guard, a paramilitary group that wants less government control over their lives. They operate mainly in western Texas along the border of Mexico. Suspected crimes of the group are drug dealing, illegal arms sales and money laundering."

"Damn," Sarah said. "Beckman hoped there was more on them. One of her teams thought they might have caught a break when they took those pictures."

"Unless they've really stepped up their game recently I'd group them in the same category as a street gang," said Chuck. "Who did she hope they were?"

"All she has is a name, Duncan Crowe, a major player in the bombing in Lisbon a few years back. She was hoping one of those men was him"

"He wasn't, but I flashed on Duncan's name and he served in the same unit as Washington in the Army"

"Do you think they knew each other?" asked Sarah.

"That I can't say, but if you give me a few minutes I can check the Army data base and see if they served together." Chuck turned around to start his search. His fingers flew across the keyboards at a blinding pace entering commands on the computer he was using. The three women looked on in awe as Chuck performed his task. Carina took this time to whisper to Sarah, "Keyboards aren't the only thing his fingers know their way around," for added emphasis she added a saucy smile and a wink.

"Really Carina?" asked Ellie. "I'd rather not think of my brother doing that, thank you very much."

"If your fingers are half as good as his, Sarah is one lucky lady."

"I think you were easier to take before you hooked up with Chuck," stated Sarah. "In the past I didn't know your sexual conquests, now I do and its disturbing."

"I got something," Chuck said breaking into the conversation. "They served together in the same company for three months in ninety-nine. Both were given an article fifteen for disrespect to a senior NCO. Beckman should have her team keep an eye on Washington and he may lead them to Duncan."

"I'll let Beckman know what you found. On last thing before I go, keep your girlfriend under control."

"Why? What did she do this time?" This got a laugh from Carina and a pair of sighs from the other two.

"Never mind little brother, never mind. I have to get back to work, dinner at our place tonight you two and bring Casey." Finishing her statement, she turned and left.

"Can I trust you two alone in here or do I have to make you leave the door open?" asked Sarah.

"I was just leaving myself," replied Carina. The two women left Chucks office talking between themselves. Chuck went back to work on his coding of a new firewall he wanted to install on their system. The old one he fixed was good but he wanted something better. In addition to his coding he was running searches on a few high value targets Beckman had sent him earlier in the day. Several hours later his phone alerted him it was time to leave so he straightened up his work area and headed to Carina's office to pick her up before heading over to Ellie's.

"So what's on the agenda for tonight," Chuck asked over dinner.

"A new club opened up downtown we've been wanting to check out for a while," answered Ellie.

"I'm going to go to the range a practice with the new pistol I got," Casey replied.

"Come on big guy, live a little come out with us," pled Chuck. "It's not like you have to babysit me or anything."

"I appreciate it but not tonight."

"Any time we go out you have an open invite," added Sarah. After dinner finished the small group headed to the club Ellie suggested. As they headed across the parking lot to the club a loud voice called out, "Hey look boys, three dykes and a fruit."

The group turned to look at the man who called out when the flash hit Chuck. He turned to the girls and mouthed 'Fulcrum.' The three women with him tensed slightly and grasped their clutches closer to their bodies while Chuck's hand went into his back pocket. He then addressed the six men in front of him, "That's all you got? Seriously dude you need new material."

"Very funny Mary, after we take care of you, we're going to set the dykes straight," said the man that seemed to be the leader of the group. The men began to advance on the small the small group.

"Mary? Not my name, but since you tried to guess mine I'll tell you. You should have heard of me because we've been kicking Fulcrums' ass for months." Four knives, thrown almost at the same time, hit their targets squarely in the chest dropping the agents where they stood. "Now it's four against two. I suggest you don't try anything stupid because the women behind me don't miss."

The two remaining agents shared a glance before making a move to draw their weapons. They were no match for the speed and accuracy of Sarah and Carina. The two Fulcrum agents' heads snapped backwards from the impact of the rounds hitting them.

"So much for a night out," sighed Carina as she looked over the downed men. "Who wants to call Beckman for a cleaner team?"

"I'll do it," said Chuck. He pointed across the lot at the approaching Police cruisers "You guys take care of the locals who just pulled up."

"Good evening General," began Chuck. "We just encountered six Fulcrum agents outside of the club 'Some Place Else' in Burbank. We're going to need a cleaner team. We injured four of them and killed two. The girls are handling the LEO's who just pulled up."

"You have a knack of finding trouble don't you?"

"It wasn't us this time General. They were there to harass people going into the club. It was bad luck for them they happened to choose us. I didn't notice them until they called the girls dykes and me a fruit."

"So they were traitors as well as narrow minded bigots?"

"Seems like it. We'll send you a report later tonight."

"Ok. I'll contact the locals, Beckman out." Chuck made his way to the girls just as they were finishing up with the locals. "Everything sorted out?"

"Thankfully yes," said Sarah. "I called Reynolds to get an FBI team to the hospital where the injured men are going. It really pays to have them in my task force."

"Beckman wants our report tonight by the way, so we have to cut the night short." They returned to Ellie's to send in the report before going their separate ways.

As more time passed Chuck's impact was being felt by all the agencies of the task force. The DEA had dramatically increased the amount of drugs it kept off the market, while Home Land and the FBI brought in a few terrorists. The other thing that took shape was the friendships that were forming. Stone and Casey were familiar faces at Sarah's house. Chuck got the girls into surfing which lead to many days spent at the beach.

Two months later

Casey was getting bored sitting behind his desk in the CTTF. He had already been to the range and blew off a couple hundred rounds, cleaned his weapons and reviewed the daily reports. He briefly thought about asking Chuck to spar until he remembered what happened the last time he did. Chuck in his own right was a good fighter but with the intersect he was almost untouchable which gave Casey a good workout and improved his skills. The last time they spared everything was fine until it went to shit. Casey was concentrating on penetrating Chuck's defenses when Carina entered the Dojo with Sarah. Chuck dropped his guard to look at Carina and the right hand Casey was in the process of delivering couldn't be stopped. It landed square on Chuck's jaw sending him to the mat in an unconscious heap. Both women were fiercely protective of Chuck so that lead to both women kicking his ass. Thankfully his phone rang breaking him out of his bored state. It was Sarah calling him in for a briefing with the General. When he arrived the usual team was there.

"Team, we have a situation that just popped up on our radar. Chuck already ran the data and has concluded Fulcrum is involved," began the General. Her image was replaced by a picture of a man in his late thirties. "Kevin Duffy, a chief weapons designer for Smith and Wesson, was abducted earlier today near Las Vegas. The people with him were killed execution style, a single gunshot to the back of the head. He is currently working on a side arm that is virtually undetectable by known means. If Fulcrum gets that technology it gives them another source of income. Imagine what would happen if they started selling these weapons to terrorists around the world."

"What are our orders Ma'am?" questioned Sarah.

"The mission is twofold, get Duffy back safe and capture or kill as many Fulcrum agents as possible." She disconnected the call.

"Intel Chuck?"

"They're holed up in an old house about fifty miles outside Vegas. The neighborhood is mostly abandoned so civilian activity should be light. Not much in the way of security that I can tell." He pulled up a satellite view of the house.

"Casey best way to approach?" asked Sarah.

"Two teams, one going in the front, one in the rear. Set up a sniper across the street front and back in case they try to run. I suggest using the local FBI to form a net around the house and local LEO's to keep any civilians out of the area."

"Sounds good people, grab your gear and meet at the SUV's in fifteen. I'll call the locals in route." During the trip they refined their plans and made back up plans in case the mission went pear shaped. When they arrived Sarah met with the FBI and LEO's on site and informed them of the plans. The FBI placed snipers in the required places and the LEO's blocked off the area around the house. Chuck and Carina were doing their permission checks of each other, Ellie was putting the final touches on her wife's gear plus getting her medical supplies ready in the surgical van. Casey was helping Stone get ready and Reynolds was interfacing with the FBI agents on site.

Sarah's team, Chuck and Carina would enter through the back and Casey's team, Reynolds and Stone would go in the front. The FBI would enter a few minutes later. When the time came the coordinated attack started, Chuck and Casey kicking in the doors and leading the charge. Chuck was able to disable an agent as soon as he cleared the door and moved off to the side. Sarah followed right on his ass and took out an agent trying to get Chuck from behind. Carina shot a third agent that popped out from behind a hallway door. They were making good time clearing their side of the house. Casey's team was having the same success. He bagged two agents as soon as he entered and Stone got one. Chuck got to the steps first and barreled up them like he didn't have a care in the world. Carina was on his ass followed by Sarah. There wasn't any resistance until they got to the room Duffy was being held in. The two Fulcrum agents tried to engage Chuck but he dispatched one with a head shot and Carina took out the last one with a double tap to the chest. Casey's team checked the remaining rooms and found a computer that he grabbed. It was a text book raid and nobody got injured. They egressed the house and turned the scene over to the FBI. They were careful to leave several Fulcrum agents alive so they could be questioned later.

Duffy was sent to the local hospital to get checked out and debriefed later. Reynolds would stay behind to work with the local FBI. Chuck went to the FBI's communications van and placed a call to Beckman. Sarah gave her the short version and promised a full written report in the morning. The team made their way back to Castle debrief and do their reports. Once there Sarah began her debrief.

"Good job out there today. We got in and out with no injuries,"

"Uh Sarah, we know that," interrupted Carina. When Sarah looked over she saw Carina was practically in Chuck's lap. "Make it quick. I have to get Chuck home so I can ride him like a Harley on a long dirt road." She then kissed Chuck passionately.

"I agree with Carina on this," echoed Ellie through half lidded eyes. Sarah seeing the look in her wife's eyes made a command decision. "Briefing over be back by noon." She grabbed Ellies hand and flew out of castle. Not surprisingly Chuck and Carina were not far behind.

"Well John," said agent Stone as she walked over and straddled his lap. "It's just us now," and kissed him deeply. "I like the Harley bit so get your ass up."

"I don't think the part you want getting up is my ass," kidded Casey. They left quickly after that.

Two days later one of Chuck's searches got a hit and he immediately called Sarah to set up a briefing. When everyone had reported to the briefing room Chuck started by passing on the information he found.

"Over the last several weeks I have been running searches concerning the recent break ins of secure government labs. Some of the items taken include lasers, high end computers and weapon tracking systems. My initial theory was Fulcrum was attempting to build its own intersect but when the lasers and tracking systems popped up I changed my theory to a weapon of mass destruction. I managed to track down the location of the computers. They ended up in the mountains of Colorado. My guess is they have an underground base they're operating out of."

"How many men are we talking about," asked agent Stone.

"My guess is twenty-five to fifty agents based on the comings and goings of vehicles."

"Can you hack into their systems and find out what their up to?" asked Reynolds.

Chuck rolled his eyes at the question before he answered. "If I could I would have done it already. They have a ton of cameras watching the perimeter but these guys are smart." He changed screens to show the satellite photos he had of the area. "Everything they have is self-contained in the base. The system and base aren't connected to the internet in any way which makes it impossible to hack."

"Ideas people?" asked Sarah.

"We take a small group agents and a squad of Marines and flush them out," suggested Casey.

"I doubt I can get permission to launch a military operation on US soil," countered Sarah.

"We can go there and do recon on the base to see if we can gain entry. If we can, we create a diversion for Chuck to crash the computers. Then relay the numbers to Beckman and have her plan the assault with our help," said Carina.

"Everyone ok with that?" asked Sarah. "Casey get with Beckman and arrange transportation. Everyone else grab you gear and prepare to move once our ride gets here. We're staying here until we leave."

Early the next day the core group of agents and a few additional ones were making their way inside the base. They hadn't seen any movement, not a single guard was patrolling the halls. What they found along the way both shocked and worried them. Their main concern was the number of unconscious and battered men they were finding along the way.

Some men had suffered minor burns and scorched clothing. Others had what appeared to be claw marks from a large cat across their torsos. One of the steel doors securing the center of the base was bent inward bearing the same marks some of the men had but it was putting off massive amounts of heat. Creeping past the door they entered a massive underground cave. In the center of the cave was a mammoth machine that resembled a huge laser. A large network of computers was connected to it via cables running along the floor. It was pointing at the ground directly beneath it. The group spread out along the perimeter of the cave looking for the easiest route to the machine.

"All teams report, how many men do you count?" asked Sarah.

"I have six by me," responded Casey.

"Five here," came from Carina. Stone was next, "we have ten."

"Four here," responded Reynolds. Before any of the other teams could answer a body came flying out from behind one of the closed doors across the cave from them and skidded about ten feet before it stopped moving. From what Sarah could see it wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

"All teams hold your positions until we know what the hell is going on," Sarah barked into her com device.

Two young women, one had long black hair pulled into a pony tail and was dressed in a green and black cat suit, the other, a red head, was dressed in a blue and white cat suit, followed the body out and headed straight for the device in the center of the cave. They didn't get too far before lasers hidden in the cave walls started firing at them. The agents watched in wonder and disbelief as the two women began laughing like crazy people as they tumbled, twisted and jumped past, over and under the laser fire that was leaving smoking divots in the rock floor. Every once in a while the one in green fired some sort of green laser at the attacking laser causing it to explode. The one in white would congratulate her on a nice shot. In short order all the lasers had been taken out leaving the women standing by the base of the machine.

"Chuck you have anything on those two?" asked Sarah hoping he didn't have anything on her friends.

"I got nothing on either of them."

"Sarah," called Casey, "I think they could be friendlies." _"No kidding Casey," ran through Sarah's mind_.

"Roger Casey. All teams remain in position unless they need help. When they get done please use extreme caution and approach them." _You'll end up crispy like bacon if she thinks you're a hostile._

"Hey princess when do the goons get here so you can have some fun?" the green dressed woman said. On que a hidden door opened and men armed with what appeared to be batons of some kind came charging out heading straight at the women. "By the way Pumpkin the feds are here."

"They better stay out of our way, we haven't kicked ass in a while and I want to try out some of my new moves. That's my que Eme," and without a second thought the red head plowed head on into the mass of swarming men followed by the black haired women. Unseen by the agents a small pink animal hopped out of the red heads equipment belts' pocket and scurried across the floor and began gnawing at the wires on the floor by the computers.

The entire team of Federal agents were shocked by the black haired woman's comment. The red heads punches and kicks left any goon she hit either moaning and groaning on the ground or unconscious. Those unlucky enough to meet the brunette simply went down in an unmoving heap. The gleeful hoots and hollers of both women echoed throughout the cave as the women fought. There was a marked difference in the styles both women were using. The red heads movements resembled a flowing dance punctuated with punches and kicks whereas the brunettes took on a more macabre style of dance leaving the men unmoving. In what could only be described as an ass whooping of epic proportions the entire brawl took less than ten minutes and over twenty men were laid out on the floor. When it was over the woman dressed in green called out again, "Yo, fed dudes, keep back for a few minutes while princess and I take care of the machine. No telling where shits gonna fly when I knock it over."

"Come on firefly quite playing with the feds, that thing is gonna go off in a few minutes. If that happens the world is doomed."

"Nag, nag, nag, princess. Don't get your panties in a bunch I'm going."

"Gotcha Eme, I'm not wearing any," the red head replied as the pair walked over to the base of the machine.

"Carina, what is it with you red heads? Did they forget to issue you filters?" questioned Sarah

"Don't ask me blondie, but I like her style." This comment earned her a kiss from Chuck.

"How the hell are they gonna knock that machine over?" asked Stone.

"You guys do know I can hear you so just stay put and watch," the unknown raven haired woman snapped. The women walked around the machine for a few seconds before the red head said as she pointed out the spots, "cut it here and here then blast it from the other side."

"This is gonna be fun," replied her partner with unrestrained glee in her voice. She walked over to the first spot and slashed downward with her hand and it passed through the steel leg like a hot knife going through butter. She walked to the next spot and repeated the procedure. While she was doing this the machine began to glow and hum. The machine's base was now unstable. The women walked to the other side and the red head counted down from three, when the count hit zero several things happened at once, the green woman tossed a glowing green ball at the machine hitting it exactly where the red head marked it with a laser pointer. The ball exploded sending out a shock wave that was felt everywhere in the cave. She followed that up with a blast of green laser fire that was thicker that the ones she used earlier hitting the exact same spot. She yelled 'timber' as her and the red head ducked for cover behind some rocks. The machine began exploding before it hit the ground sending super-heated metal everywhere. The real fireworks started when the main body hit the ground in a fiery explosion.

The two strange women waited a minute or two before the brunette called out "Alright you federal guys get out here and make it quick we don't have all day our ride is coming."

"All teams move out but be cautious," said Sarah.

When they got there the red head was leaning against the brunette who was filling her nails as if she didn't have a care in the world. The red head was the first to speak, "as a show of good faith could you have your people holster their weapons?"

"Only if she puts away hers," said Casey pointing at the brunette. This caused the red heads eyebrow to go up and the brunette to respond.

"What weapon would that be and where exactly should I put it?" she did a twirl to emphasize her point. She suddenly stopped what she was going to say, cocked her head to the side and stared intently at Sarah who had just walked over. "I know you, the pride rally in Frisco spring of oh five. You were with the hot brunette. Sarah right?"

"Sheridan?" she gasped then pulled her into a hug. "damn it's been a while. We can dispense with the we don't know each other crap. Ellie's brother knows everything." Sarah looked over to her team, "Stand down guys she's cool. I'd like you to meet some very good friends of ours, Kim and Sheridan."

"I'm glad you're done with that nonsense," she said wrapping her arm around the slender red head. "How's your girl?"

"Great, in fact we never got to say thank you for the wedding." She was ready to continue when Casey interrupted her.

"It's great we have all these lady feeling going on here but this mission is over and I'm ready to get out of here and brief the General."

"Shut it buffoon before I fry your ass," snapped Sheridan sending him a glare that would send most people running. Those standing close to her could feel a sudden rise in temperature and see a green glow start to form around her hands. Kim quickly placed her hand on Sheridan and the effect was immediate as the temperature dropped as fast as it rose. Chuck also jumped in to assist by holding out his hand.

"I'm Chuck, Sarah's brother in law and this is my girlfriend Carina."

"Nice to meet you," replied Kim as she shook his hand.

"Sarah how did you two meet?" inquired Chuck.

"It was the first pride rally we went to. Back then Ellie and I were both scared to come out because of our jobs. Then Sheridan got up on stage and sang 'I Need a Hero' but she changed the words to her and she. She was staring at Kim the entire time. She followed that up by giving the most rousing speech I had ever heard about coming out, it was magical. It was her speech that made us realize that no matter what our sexual preferences are, we're still us. We came out that day and never went back. We remained friends after that. I hate to change the subject but what are you guys doing here?"

"Same thing as you I suppose. Stopping a madman from destroying the world," Kim answered.

"We came here to do something completely different. I think we may have crossed some operational boundaries. Why don't we set up a video conference with our bosses and see if we can fill in the blanks?" Sarah responded.

"Sounds good." They ladies took a few minutes to exchange work numbers before they went their separate ways. Once back in the CTTF Chuck pulled out his cell phone so he could hook it up to the large screen in the office. He then began looking over the fight again especially the taking down of the machine. After studying it for a while he motioned for Sarah, Carina and Casey to come over. Once they were seated next to him, he began talking.

"I watched the whole thing live, then a few more times once we got back. I still can't believe what I saw. Explain to me how Sheridan was able to slice through solid steel supports like she did? Her hand never slowed down but she left a three-inch gap in the support beam." He was pointing things out on the video as he talked. "If they have that kind of tech available to them, we need to get our hands on it."

"Chuck," began Sarah, "I can assure you we'll never get our hands on the tech no matter how hard we try. Ellie and I are good friends of theirs and when I asked her all she told me was she's special; just not how special. Maybe we can set up a meeting and see if we can find out her secrets then."

"I have to say," added Carina, "when I saw Ellie in action for the first time I said it was the craziest thing I saw, well seeing those two fight takes the cake. They just waded right into the teeth of the enemy and kicked ass, plus they laughed the whole time like they were enjoying the hell out of it."

"Trust me, you haven't seen half of it," mumbled Sarah.

"She threatened to fry my ass and I felt an enormous amount of heat coming from her and her hands were glowing. That tells me high tech," said Casey.

"It's been a long couple of days, lets run this by Beckman in the morning and see what happens."

TBC


	5. Crazy Stuff

Two days later the word came back from Beckman that she would be at Castle at fourteen hundred hours and she would have guests with her. She requested only Sarah, Ellie, Chuck, Carina and Casey be present for the meeting. At exactly fourteen hundred the door to Castle opened and four figures made their way down the steps and into the main briefing room of Castle. Beckman was the first to enter in her Air Force uniform, following her down was a middle aged woman dressed in a blue uniform with an eye patch covering her right eye. Her hair was light brown cut just above her shoulders. She was followed by Kim dressed in cargo pants, a pink shirt and sneakers. Her red hair was hanging down to almost the middle of her back. Last was Sheridan. She too was dressed comfortably in black slacks, a button down dark green shirt and black heels. Her hair also hung loose but extended well below her backside. Once they were seated around the table the General began to speak,

"Good day agents I'd like to introduce you to the people with me. Two of them you already know, Kim and Sheridan. The remaining woman is Betty Director, head of Global Justice. As a sign of good faith between our agencies I told her about or biggest secret, the intersect and she told me theirs. I'll give her the floor," she said taking a seat.

"I can see by the blank stares that you have no idea who or what we are. In a nut shell we are top secret worldwide espionage organization that deals with any threats to the world that fall outside the scope of normal law enforcement groups. Unlike your agencies that deal with national threats we deal with threats that concern the entire world. We also have some of the world's finest scientists, weapons and agents working for us. Because we are global in our scope we are granted operational status in most countries around the world. Are there any questions so far?"

"If you're so large, why haven't you eliminated Fulcrum yet?" asked Casey.

"Simple, we don't care about them." This got a raised eye from almost everyone at the table not in Global Justice. "Fulcrum is a national issue, not a worldwide one. The operation you witnessed the other day had a global affect. A madman was planning to use the laser we destroyed to crack open the worlds outer crust if he wasn't made emperor of the world. Had he succeeded most of the life on earth would have been destroyed. Most of the people we take down are considered lunatics by most intelligence agencies because of the outlandish plans they come up with. As I said we stay out of a countries personal business unless they ask for help."

"Ok, fine I get that but how did we end up crossing paths when all of our intel led us to believe it was a Fulcrum base?" queried Chuck.

"I'll answer that," said Beckman. "Bad luck for lack of a better term. Under normal circumstances we would have been correct, in this case we were wrong in piecing together the data, not though any mistakes on our part but because we didn't know the other possibility existed."

"What I'd like to know is how I can get my hands on the laser weapon Sheridan was using. It would come in handy in a firefight," asked Casey.

It was at this point that Shego stopped filing her nails and stood up. Kim saw the look in her eyes and reached over to calm her down. Shego just looked at her and smirked.

"Enough of the Sheridan shit, only a few people are allowed to call me that, Kimmie, her parents, Sarah and Ellie. To the rest of you I'm Shego. For the next answer there is no laser weapon. It's all me." She fired a stream of thin plasma at the far wall and in a very neat elegant script wrote her name in the steel wall. "Long story short, I was near the impact zone of a comet when I was younger and by some freak accident I was given the ability to generate plasma. I can melt anything known to man or I can suck the heat out of the air and freeze someone in a matter of seconds."

Casey let out a snort and said, "Prove it."

"You asked for it moron," she snarled. She walked over to Casey and before he could blink snatched his weapon from his holster. She cleared it in seconds then melted it into slag, letting the red hot metal drip on the table. She was smirking as she asked him, "proof enough for you or do you want me to freeze your balls off next?"

"That's amazing," shouted Ellie. Before she could go on the large screen in the conference room came to life and a young black male holding a large fountain drink was looking back at them. "Hey Kim," he said before looking around the room, "and Piranha" he said looking at Chuck. "It's me hacker23.

"Damn Hacker your like sixteen," exclaimed a shocked Chuck. "You're the one from back in the day?"

"Yep. Eighteen actually."

"Wade it's about time you got here," said Kim. "What have you got?"

"Sorry I'm late but it took me longer to find a working copy of the intersect than we planned on. Next I had to do the upgrade to the intersect which took longer than I originally thought. The coding was extremely messed up. Ellie will understand this more than the rest. Whoever coded it did like it would be used by a computer not the human brain. They store information in a completely different way. Without the changes I made the intersect host's brain will eventually fry, rendering him a vegetable." A thump was heard and all eyes turned to the sound and saw Chuck lying flat on his back with Carina hovered over him.

"Tell me you can fix this," she said almost begging.

"I already did," replied Wade as Ellie and Carina tended to her brother, "by fixing the coding and streamlining the data, based on the original size of the data, I was able to increase the amount of information by adding things to it like languages, driving and flying skills as well as several forms of martial arts. I was still able keep the data level below what Chuck downloaded in the original intersect. I developed a program to remove the original intersect and replace it with the new one. The entire process should take less than three hours."

"You rock Wade," was said in stereo by Kim and Shego. By now Chuck was back in his chair but still looking pale. He was holding onto Carina's hand for support.

"I know," Wade said with a smile, "Chuck, I can remove the old intersect but it comes with a price, the new one has to replace it. I can't find another way around it. Also, General Beckman, my research shows that the original parameters for the intersect host remain."

"Wait a second," said Carina, "you want to trust my boyfriend's brain to a kid?"

"That kid," began Ellie, "has five Doctorates so far. I was in communications with Wade during the entire process as the medical consultant. I trust him."

"Guy's behave for a minute," stated Chuck. "This is my brain we're talking about and it doesn't seem like I have many options. I can stay the way I am and end up a vegetable or try Wades intersect. I trust Ellie and if she's ok with it then I'm in. How long before we can do this because the thought of having a ticking bomb in my head scares the shit out of me."

"I have the program ready to go. I already uploaded it to your server so just get everyone out of the room and click on the link and follow the instructions."

"You heard Wade and since you don't need me for tactical or operational decisions I'd like to get this done, so please leave." Carina hugged Chuck and give him a kiss then whispered "for luck" in his ear. She then followed the rest of the group out of the room.

In the main room of Castle, the group continued to talk and exchange ideas. It wasn't long before the group had broken up to sub groups, the General and the director were discussing ways to pool their resources, Sarah and Ellie were chatting with Shego and Kim, Casey went to clean his weapons and mourn over the loss of his side arm while Carina was pacing like a caged tiger waiting on Chuck. The most interesting conversation by far was taking place in Sarah's group.

"So what have you two been doing for the last couple years since Frisco?" asked Kim.

"Pretty much the same shit, chasing down bad guys and putting them in jail or killing them," answered Sarah. "Unless of course you count having to get El's brother involved in the spy game."

"Trust me," added Ellie, "it's been a major pain in the ass. He's good at his job but he still holds back and we're worried he's gonna get killed because of it."

"What did I tell you pumpkin? Holding back gets you killed," added Shego.

"Stuff it Eme," Kim snapped back causing Shego to chuckle.

"When we met in Frisco you guys never told us how you met. So how did you guys end up getting together?" queried Sarah.

"I have a thing for bad girls it seems," Kim said with a shrug. "We were on opposite sides of the law when we first met. I was trying to stop a super villain known as Drakken from taking over the world. Shego was his muscle and we fought. We stopped them but it wasn't easy. She sometimes worked for other villains and I fought her then too."

"Stop for a second. I saw what she can do with her Plasma so how could you fight her and walk away?" asked Ellie.

"I thought she was cute," Shego replied as she looked over and winked at Kim. "Plus she was a good fighter despite her age. She was rough around the edges in her style but still gave me a good workout and didn't run when I lit up. Not many people have the guts to go one on one with me but she did and I was impressed. So I held back."

"Eventually our fights resembled dances more than all out brawls. We found ourselves on top of each other or pinned against walls most of the time," added Kim. "Then she got hit with a ray that flipped her personality and she became good."

"And straight," Shego said as a shudder visibly passed through her body.

"Anyway," continued Kim with a sigh, "She became a teacher and stayed at my house because she didn't have anywhere else to go. We started hanging out and going shopping then we became friends."

"Then the buffoon flipped me back and I couldn't get princess off my mind and one thing led to another and here we are."

"Buffoon?" asked Sarah.

"My boyfriend Ron at the time," answered Kim.

"Idiot lost his pants every time they tried to sneak up on us. If it wasn't for Rufus, they never would have stopped us. Ruf is smarter than the moron."

"Shego stop calling him a buffoon and moron, he's still my best friend," said Kim.

"So you had a three-man team?"

"No, it was a two-man team and Rufus." Kim was about to continue when she saw the confused looks on Sarah and Ellie's faces, "Ron's pet."

"So you were a canine unit as well?" asked Ellie.

"Mole rat front and center," commanded Shego deciding now was the time to break out their secret weapon and cease any confusion. Seconds later a pink head appeared out of Kim's cargo pocket and Rufus scampered over to Shego and climbed up her shoulder and saluted.

"Pesnt," he squeaked. Shego handed him a treat she pulled from her pocket and he happily began munching on it.

"Naked Mole Rat actually," explained Kim with a giggle as both she and Shego enjoyed the confusion now on the faces of the two other women. "Rufus I'd like you to meet Sarah and Ellie, guys this is Rufus." Rufus stuck out his paw and squeaked, "Hi." Despite their shock the women used a finger to touch his paw and he shook it.

"He understands us and talks?" the surprise clearly evident in Sarah's voice.

"Uh huh," Rufus said at the same time shaking his paw in the little bit gesture.

"Not so much on the talking part but he gets by. If it wasn't for him Ron never would have graduated high school," answered Kim.

"Like I said princess, smarter than Ron."

 **On the other side of the room a different conversation was taking place.**

Both women were conniving by nature, looking for the best way to exploit others to help their own organization. Beckman was salivating over the prospect of getting some of the tech she had been shown by Betty during their previous meetings and Betty was looking for a way to get her hands on the intelligence Beckman had. They both knew if a hush hush deal between the two of them could be worked out both of their organizations would benefit. It didn't take long before they were both satisfied by the progress they had made and wanted to find out more about each other's teams.

"How do you tolerate the blatant disrespect from Shego? She seems like a loose cannon to me."

"You're seeing her on a good day," Betty huffed. "Catch her on a bad one a look out. Besides there's not much I can do to her. She's not really a member of GJ, she just goes with Kim on missions."

"You've lost me Betty," stated a confused Beckman.

"She only gave you part of her back story in there, a very small part. For years she was the number one Alpha threat in the world, wanted in over eleven countries for crimes they believed she committed. We had no idea about her true abilities and feared she would take over the world, not the people she was working for. The cosmic plasma she generates runs the full spectrum from light to pure gamma radiation. If she ever went full nuclear she could literally end all life on Earth. The steel door with the claw marks your agents saw, her work. A few years ago some manufacture of military equipment developed a tank he swore was indestructible. He offered one hundred million dollars to anyone that could damage it. Shego got word of it and showed up with the others trying to get the money. After the others tried and failed she walked up and in five minutes trashed the damn thing, then demanded her money. There's a video if you need proof. It's not just her plasma that makes her unique it's her ability to steal and get away with it."

"How so?"

"I'm sure you hear it all the time, there's no perfect crime? Well she committed them all the time. She's the best out there and lets everyone know. A few years back we caught a master criminal with Monet's 'Water Lily Pond' in his possession and asked where he got it. He confessed that he paid Shego fifty million to steal it for him. When we arrested her she simply said prove it. It was never reported missing by the museum. We checked the museum where it was on display and hanging there was a perfect replica. The cameras caught nothing on film, there was no evidence of break in, just his word on who took it. We expanded our search to museums around the world and found countless fakes in the place of priceless works of art. All the crimes have the exact same MO as that one. Our working theory is it's her but there is no way to prove it. There's no telling how many are missing from private collections."

"There has to be evidence of some kind, fibers, prints, DNA?"

"Nope nothing. When she teamed up with Kim we tried to get a DNA sample from her and that was a colossal waste of time. We even called in Wade for this and he theorizes that due to her comet mutation her cells break down as soon as they leave her body. We pulled a blood sample and within minutes the cells broke down, seconds for skin cells. She doesn't leave prints either, she has them but again the mutation won't leave them."

"Come on Betty, no one is that good."

"The one thing that woman has in abundance is pride in what she does and her being the best thief in the world is top on her list," Betty sighed seeing the look of disbelief on Beckman's face. "She knew you would say that so she gave me this," she said while pulling a letter opener from her pocket and handing it to Diane. Beckman was in shock as she took back the item. It was one of her most prized possessions. The letter opener had been given to her by her father on the day she graduated from the Air Force Academy.

"Shego," she shouted, "where and when did you get this?"

"Top left hand drawer of your desk sitting on blue felt pillow next to the bottle of Advil and the other night. Still think I'm not the best?" She shouted back.

"That's exactly where I keep it," Beckman said the disbelief clear in her voice. "I work in the most secure section of the building in the center of the base. There's alarms and cameras all over the place. How the hell did she do it?"

"I told you she was the best, but to answer your question nobody can figure it out and we probably never will. She's that good."

"If she's that good at stealing things how can you trust her with all your secrets?"

"Good question. You remember the movie 'Under Siege' from the nineties, this line sums it up, 'Because if I goddamn can't control you, I might as well support you'. Kim is the only one who _can_ control her. When she fell in love with Kim and they hooked up she gave up being evil, well doing bad things, because Kim asked her to. Honor is also high on her list and she would never hurt Kim. So when Kim asked us to pardon her and let her join Team Possible how could I refuse? Getting the number one threat to the world on your side is a big boon. Besides if she wanted them she could just take them and we couldn't stop her."

"So she does it for free?"

"We estimate she is worth well over a billion dollars but we only know about several million. She does it for Kim and the thrill. I know you saw the video and how much fun they had, for them it's playtime more than anything else."

Beckman glanced over at the rest of the team in the room and saw a rat sitting on Shego's shoulder and out of reflex shouted "Rat" and pointed at Shego. This caused the four women to laugh and Rufus to chitter loudly. The women moved over to join their bosses.

While they were approaching Betty explained, "that's not a rat Diane. It's Rufus another member of team Possible, he's a naked mole rat. He's Ron's pet. When Ron got out of the hero business to raise his family Rufus got bored and stayed on with Kim. He still lives with Ron but he's like them and loves the thrill so he goes on missions with them."

"You're seriously telling me that a mole rat is part of the team?" Shego and Kim followed by Sarah and Ellie arrived just as the General finished her sentence. Rufus who was still perched on Shego's shoulder spoke up, "nkd mol rat," then chittered something else. Beckman, who had seen a lot of crazy stuff in her day just stared at the scene before her. Kim chimed in, "General Beckman this is Rufus."

Rufus did his best impression of a soldier by standing up, saluting and squeaking hi. Shego dug in her pocket again and tossed Rufus another treat which he happily started munching on.

"He talks?" an amazed Beckman said.

"Enough of this shit," mumbled Shego but loud enough for Kim to hear. "Casey, Carina get over here. I'm only going to explain this once more," she bellowed. When they arrived Shego nodded to Kim. She could tell they were looking at Rufus and wondering what the hell they were looking at.

"Casey, Carina we'd like you to meet Rufus the third member of our team." Shego held out her arm and Rufus scampered down her arm and extended his paw waiting to shake hands. Carina went first and said, "Hello, aren't you the cute one?" Then lightly rubbed his stomach with her finger. Rufus flopped down on his back and let out a contented sigh as she rubbed his belly. Casey of course just stood there with a wtf look on his face. "You're a naked mole rat aren't ch'a buddy?"

"Uh huh, uh huh," and he sighed again as Carina continued to rub his belly.

"Yo dude, since you like her so much why don't you hop on her hand for a bit while she pets you?" asked Shego.

Rufus rolled his head to the side to look back at her and said, "M'k" and jumped into Carinas hand and laid back down for more belly rubs.

"You guys actually call him part of your team? I can see him as pet but what help could he be on missions?" inquired Casey.

"Show em Ruf," Shego said with a shit eating grin on her face. Kim said, "not too rough though".

"What's he gonna do bite me? I'd squash him before he got near me."

"Uh Ohh", came from Kim and Shego at the same time. They both looked at Rufus who by now had taken a standing position in Carina's hand and narrowed his eyes. No one in the room except Kim and Shego noticed the light blue glow surrounding him. He suddenly leaped from the hand that he was perched upon and executed a spinning heel kick to Casey's jaw knocking him out. When he landed on Casey's chest he let out a loud "Booyah" and stood like Rocky on the Art Museum steps. He then scampered over to Carina and back into her hand. She just stared down at him in disbelief.

"I, uh, yeah forgot to tell you, Rufus got infused with Mystical Monkey powers from an ancient artifact. He was gifted the with Tai Shing Pek Kwar, Drunken Monkey Kung Foo, with him being around Shego so much a lot of her attitude as well; so he kicks ass when he has to," explained Kim with a shrug. Everyone but Shego was standing there slack jawed at the events that just transpired. Betty turned to Beckman and said, "you're worried about Shego? Your agent will get himself and others killed if he keeps acting like that against the super villains we go up against."

"Point taken."

Casey had just started to come around and was sitting up cautiously because his world was still spinning. "Did you get the number of that truck?" Rubbing his jaw as he stood up.

"No truck Casey," Sarah said with a giggle, "Rufus." From his position in Carina's hand he blew a raspberry at Casey. Casey still had a hard time believing it until Ellie handed him a pocket mirror and he saw the naked mole rat foot print on his jaw.

"Hey guys, miss me?" came from across the room as Chuck exited the room he had been in. Two things happened at once, Rufus got tossed in Kim's direction where she deftly caught him and Carina bolted over to Chuck and smothered him in kisses.

"Did it work?" asked Carina still refusing to relax her hold on Chuck.

"Yes it did, in fact I feel better than I have in a while. My head feels a lot lighter and when I flashed it was a lot smoother with the benefit of it being pain free. According to Wade I'm good to go."

"Great little brother," exclaimed Ellie with a large smile on her face. "I want to run a full set of tests on your brain to make sure there's no damage. I can also use them as a baseline for in the future. One question though, what caused you to flash?"

"When Wade cleared me I pulled up my emails to check if we had anything from the CTTF. There was an email from Graham asking me to check out a few pictures taken at LAX. One of the guys came back as Fulcrum and he wants us to check it out. I sent the photo to CTTF so the FBI agents there can run it through their facial recognition software. I also asked Wade to help me improve my hacking skills and he agreed since we may work together in the future."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there buckwheat," said Carina as she narrowed her eyes and looked hard at Chuck. "This is going to take place during working hours only? Right? Because I know how you get with your cyber shit. There's no way in hell I'm giving up my Chuck time to a computer, understand?"

"Only during work hours, Carina," Chuck answered meekly. Carina's face broke into a big grin. "Seeing that's settled what have you got?"

"The guy I identified is John Harper, currently with the CIA declared missing in Columbia when his cover was blown. That's all they have on him. I'm hoping facial recognition will identify the other two men."

"Not that I want to break up this party but we have work to do," said Sarah. "The task force just called to inform us that a terrorist we've been tracking has met up with a known Fulcrum member near LAX. With the information from Chuck's flash we may have a Fulcrum base near the airport. We need to head back to CTTF so I can put a team together." The groups said their goodbyes and headed back to their own base of operation. Dr. Director went back to GJ headquarters while Kim and Shego decided to stay in the area for a few days so they could hang out with Sarah and Ellie for a few days. The Members of CTTF headed back to their base with General Beckman in tow and got to work.

Chuck immediately went to his office and began pulling the security feeds from LAX, car rental agencies and the surrounding traffic cameras. He flashed several more times while looking at the camera feeds. At the same time, he was hacking into the data bases of the cab companies that serviced the airport, collating the data he was acquiring and writing down the information from his flashes. Sarah and the rest of the intersect team gathered in the main conference room and started putting plans together in case the base was located. By the end of the day the teams had plans in place that would cover a wide range of contingencies while Chuck had narrowed down the location to an office building outside of Pasadena.


	6. Huh?

The next afternoon the team was once again gathered in the conference room with Beckman seated in the back observing how Sarah ran her task force. So far she had been impressed with how Sarah handled herself. Sarah spent most of the morning going over reports, sending out agents from her taskforce to bring in known felons and setting up surveillance on a suspected drug lord as well as the Fulcrum base. She seamlessly integrated agents from every agency at her disposal into impressive teams that could handle any situation that could possibly arise.

"So far we have located the Fulcrum base outside of Pasadena but not much else. Chuck, do you come up with anything new this morning?"

"I located the network the network Fulcrum is using and hacked into it. It has top of the line encryption software so it took me a while. It looks like they have about twenty agents working out of the building plus civilians that I believe have been duped into working for them. Any infiltrations will have to be done carefully to avoid any of them getting hurt." Chuck paused to drink some water before continuing on, "Based on the surveillance pictures the team sent back they also have an intricate camera system used to monitor the entrances and the surrounding grounds. It's a standalone system and that I can't hack into."

"That's going to complicate matters. Anyone have a suggestion?" asked Sarah.

"What about sending someone in undercover?" suggested Casey.

"To risky Casey," answered Sarah.

"Can we flush them out and grab them when they leave?" questioned agent Stone.

"That could work, but then again how do we do it?" questioned Reynolds.

"I could hack into the fire alarm system and set it off. That would get most of the people out of the building," suggested Chuck.

"Good idea guys," said Sarah, "If I remember correctly once an alarm sounds the fire department is required to turn it off so we can go in dressed like them to check out the place and plant some bugs."

"It's a good plan but I have some reservations about it," Carina chimed in. "If we go that route, and I know it's a small chance, if there is a real fire innocent people could lose everything. That would make us nothing more than rat bastards."

Sarah stopped what she was going to say and cocked her head to the side deep in thought. "Chuck, if we could get a wireless device in the security system and another one in one of the networked computers, could you then hack into it?"

"Piece of cake. But we still have to get the wireless devices on there."

"Let me make a phone call." Sarah pulled out her phone, dialed a number, put it on speaker and waited.

"What?" came the gruff voice from the phone.

"Sheridan, it's Sarah."

"Sup blondie?

"We need help with a little B and E."

"I'm listening."

"We need to get into a secure building and plant some wireless equipment in a Fulcrum base, but a person can't get in."

"You mean you can't get in but this is me your talking to."

"I know you can get in," Sarah sighed, "but the guard station is manned so it's a two-person job but the other person has to be real small."

"You need Ruf huh? Let me get him and you can ask him yourself. HEY KIMMIE, bring Ruf over here. Blondie needs to ask him a question." A few seconds later a "Lo" came over the phone.

"Rufus, we need you for a mission, you up for it."

"Yup, yup, yup. Cheese!" from the back of the room the General could be heard saying "this is the most screwed up shit I have ever seen." Which got a round of nods from those seated around the table.

"What's with the cheese, Sheridan?"

"His going rate for out sourced missions is a wheel of sharp cheddar cheese payable on completion of the mission."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," said Casey. "Not only are we outsourcing missions, but we have to pay a rodent with cheese?"

Kim's voice could be heard coming over the phone, "He used to do jobs for free but like I said he's been hanging around Shego and she's a mercenary, besides how's he gonna spend money?"

"I'll give you that one," said Sarah. "How soon can you guys get here?"

"Give us an hour," answered Kim.

"Ok see you then."

"I get that she's your friend Sarah, but how do we know she won't blow the op by getting caught?" asked Agent Stone.

"I'll take that one," stated the General as she stood up. "I had a long talk with her boss the other day and she explained to me how good a thief she is. Knowing we would be skeptical Shego broke into my office and stole this," she said holding up the letter opener. "that's all the proof I need."

"Good, now that it's settled let's break for lunch until they get here," firmly stated Sarah.

The group headed in separate directions, with Carina dragging Chuck back to his office, Casey, Stone and Reynolds going to the cafeteria leaving just Beckman and Sarah in the room. Once they were alone the General started speaking,

"When this project started I had my reservations about how it would go," she held up her hand to forestall any questions that may be coming. "You were emotionally attached to Chuck, his sister knew about the intersect, he was an unskilled civilian and I only knew you from your file. Now that I've seen you in action over the last few months and here today, I have no more concerns. One thing I noticed is your style of leadership. I know you when you took over the taskforce you were just agent with no leadership roles. How did you develop yours?"

"Ellie. She's a world class neurosurgeon but she doesn't go poking around a person's brain without getting information from the other doctors. I won't send my teams into a situation without as much information as I can get. I have an idea about what I want done then refine it after I get the facts. I almost got killed a few times out in the field due to piss poor planning and bad intel."

They continued to chat until the others came back. When they did Chuck and Carina were slightly disheveled which caused Sarah to roll her eyes.

"Carina, you missed a button," said Sarah pointing at said button.

Kim and Shego were escorted in a few minutes later and sat at the table. Once they were seated Rufus climbed out of Kim's pocket and perched on Shego's shoulder.

"What's the plan?" asked Shego.

"We need you to break in to a Fulcrum base that has very tight security measures. Once inside you need to plant a wireless transceiver in the closest computer to the guard station. Then cause a small diversion so Rufus can place the other one in the guards computer, retrieve Rufus and get out."

"Piece of cake right Ruf?" he responded with a head nod.

"Before we do this we need to modify one of your computers so it we can watch what's going on in case of any hiccups," stated Kim.

Kim reached into one of her cargo pockets, pulled out a small helmet and placed it on Rufus's head. She then inserted a thumb drive and ran a small program. Seconds later her face appeared on the screen. "OK Rufus go to the other room for a sound check." He scampered off the table and went to the other room. The images on the computer showed whatever Rufus was looking at. Chuck was staring at the monitor with wide eyes and a slack jaw. Carina made the gesture of wiping drool off his chin.

"Chk, Chk," Sounded over the speakers in the room.

"Can you hear me Rufus?" asked Kim.

"Yup."

"Come on back buddy."

"No looking up skirts you pervert," added Shego. Everyone was looking at her strangely. "What it's happened before." Rufus returned shortly after and resumed his place on Shego's shoulder. Chuck finally got his wits back and began asking questions.

"Where can we get some of those cameras and how the hell does it work?"

"It's Wades design. The helmet contains an ultra-high definition camera, built in ear piece and a voice activated microphone. The Camera is also capable of night vision, inferred and thermal imaging," answered Kim. The entire crew let out a damn.

"We can see where he's going and what he's doing but how will he carry the transceiver?" asked Casey.

"He has his own back pack he wears for missions. We'll put the item in there."

"Don't forget to do his nail check pumpkin, I hate when I get scratched."

"Scratched?" asked Stone.

"Shego's mission gear is very form fitting so he rides, um, well next to her." It was at this point that Rufus glanced down Shego's shirt giving everyone in the room a bird's eye view of her chest.

"Hey pervert eyes up here," Shego snapped while pointing to her eyes. "You see now why I told him not to look up any skirts? Don't turn the damn camera on tonight until I tell you, got it?"

"Why, I like the view," added Kim with a saucy wink.

"Again with the filter guys," sighed Sarah.

"Chuck get with Wade on the designs, I'm sure he'll help you out."

"For the teams tonight I want Kim, Shego, Casey, Ellie and Carina on site. Chuck, General Beckman, and I will be here monitoring the mission from Castle. Stone, Reynolds and a small team will be a few blocks away in case they need backup. I'll call Ellie and tell her to meet you there with her kit. Any questions? If not let's move."

Three hours later the teams were in position. Kim set up the camera they would use to send the video feed back to Castle where Chuck's team would monitor it. Stone's team was several blocks away waiting. Chuck was seated at his console with the camera feeds on several large monitors. One showed Kim's camera, and several were waiting for Rufus's camera to come online.

"Com's check, everybody up?" asked Chuck.

"Lima Charlie," was Casey's response.

"We're up," came from Stone.

"I'm good Chuckles and chk," came from Shego's team.

"Pop your head up Ruf so we can get going. Chuck you're good to go on Ruf's camera." A chewing sound could be heard coming over the speakers in Castle.

"Shego, I'm getting some interference on your channel how do read me."

"That's not static, it's Rufus doing his pre-mission ritual. He's eating a hunk of cheese."

"We're good in Castle so anytime you're ready."

"I'm going in." as soon as Shego said that her image disappeared from every camera that was tracking her, but Rufus's camera showed the building approaching. The thermal image from the camera Kim had showed a very small heat signature that was floating in air and moving towards the building.

"What just happened! I lost contact with Shego," a clearly alarmed Chuck said.

"She's there Chuck don't worry, just track the pink dot, that's Rufus. She's gone dark," Kim called back

"IFR cameras are showing a laser grid on the grass around the building going in all directions. She'll never make it we need to abort," Chuck practically begged.

The two teams that were watching the video feeds were amazed at what they were seeing. The feed from Rufus's camera was sending back footage that could be best described as a person falling wildly down a hill, yet his dot was following right along. The entire time Rufus was emitting gleeful sounds like he was on some thrill ride. It only took a few minutes before the dot stopped at the side of the building and moved to a window. They could see the window open then shut then nothing but the building. Chuck could now see the inside of the building and mentally made a map of how they were going.

"We're in and heading to the guard station," Shego called over the radio. "You never said anything about them having cameras and motion sensors in here." The camera on Rufus again began doing circles and he could be heard going, "wee."

The tumbling soon stopped and Shego could be heard talking to Rufus. "Ok Ruf, you're on." His camera showed the top of a cubicle partition. They could tell he was moving along the top because every once in a while one of his paws would come into view. In the distance the guard could be seen looking at the monitors. He came to a stop and said, "ready." A soft whump sounded behind the guard and he got up to investigate. Rufus quickly made his way to the desk and jumped down. He shrugged off his bag and removed the device in it. "Ready,"

"Rufus to your left is the port you're going to use. Slip the device in there and go to the front of the computer and show me the screen," instructed Chuck. They watched in amazement as Rufus's paws grabbed the device and slid it into the slot. Soon he was sitting in front of the screen and a dialog box appeared asking if it was ok to install the device.

"We fucked up," Beckman said to Sarah. "He needs to hit enter for it to take." Rufus blew a raspberry into the mike as they watched in amazement as his paw pressed the enter key and installation complete popped up. Both his paws could be seen pushing the mouse until he moved the curser over the X and hit the button on the left side of the mouse and the window closed. When screen was back to normal they watched as he scampered back to where Shego was hiding. She scoped him up and placed him back in his spot and began her egress. The entry procedure was repeated but in reverse until Shego got back to where Kim and the rest of her team were waiting.

As Shego and Rufus were making their way out Chuck began hacking into the computer system. It wasn't long before he was downloading the data from the Fulcrum servers.

"You get in Chuck," Carina asked.

"We downloading the data now. Sarah says mission complete and to head back in. Meet up in Castle to debrief on the mission."

"Great job buddy," said Kim as she handed him a piece of Gouda.

"Cheese," he said happily and began chowing down on his snack. He remained nestled on Shego's chest until they returned to Castle. As soon as Carina was seated Rufus jumped out from Shego's cat suit and laid down in front of Carina and pointed at his belly. She rubbed his belly and he let out a contented sigh as he drifted off to sleep.

"First I'd like to thank Shego and Rufus for a job well done," said Sarah, _if you told me anytime during my life I would be using a naked mole rat for a mission and thanking him afterwards, I'd have had you committed._ "The mission went off without a hitch and the data is pouring in. Does anybody have any comments?"

Beckman was the first to speak, "I have no words to describe what I saw tonight or what we didn't see. I admit I panicked when we were looking at the screen and Rufus had to hit the enter key. I thought the mission was a bust until he shocked me again by using the damn thing. And God be my witness, Shego you are indeed the best thief out there."

Shego preened as she sat there with her customary smirk and nodded.

"What I don't understand is how you avoided the laser grid?" stated Casey.

"Trade secret," was her snippy reply.

"Can you explain to us how we could see you with our naked eyes but the camera showed nothing?" asked Ellie.

"Come on Ellie, you know us girls have to have some secrets."

"Guy's, you're just wasting your time, she's not going to tell you anything," Kim said.

"Got it in one pumpkin, but they're welcome to try."

"Let's go Eme it's time to celebrate another successful mission," said Kim with a leer.

"I like that idea, you grab Ruf while I change," she said as she hefted her bag and went into the ladies' room to change. Rufus didn't wake up when Kim picked him up and placed him in her pants pocket. Several minutes later the ladies were on their way home leaving the intersect team in Castle.

"Does anybody besides me think that was the craziest thing you ever saw in your life," asked Carina while getting to her feet and beginning to walk around the room. "How the hell does Rufus do it? He talks, he kicks ass, he has his own mission gear and he can use a computer. To cap it off whiles she's doing flips or whatever the hell she was doing he's whooping it having the time of his life. Add in the fact that Shego just disappears off the cameras until the mission is over, then BAM, she's back. Chuck you're the brains of this band of merry misfits, how did she do it?"

"Not a clue. Did you guys notice how she avoided the laser grid with no problem? It didn't even slow her down. Neither did the alarms on the window she used to get in."

"I don't know about you guys, but trying to figure out how Shego does the things she's capable of gives me a headache. Let's wrap up for the night and meet back here in the morning," said Sarah.

The next afternoon most of the intersect team was back in the briefing room except for Beckman who headed back to Ft. Mead and Ellie who had to work. Chuck was the first to go, "We have complete control over the security systems at the Pasadena base. I spent most of the morning going over the intel we were able to get overnight. Based on my findings I believe they have five operational bases here in California, one in Nevada and one in Kansas. In two days they are planning a large conference call and want all hands on deck for it."

"Do you have any idea about what they have planned?" questioned Carina.

"I'm not completely sure but I have a theory. Using the information from other missions they are either planning an attack somewhere or they have built their own intersect. The call could be for a large scale download."

"Reynolds," began Sarah, "when this briefing is over call your boss and fill him in on the plan and see if he can get agents plus the local authorities to those locations. Casey, you need to see if Beckman can get us logistical support from either a military base or a guard unit close by. We need to move fast on this people."

"Chuck, when would be the best time to hit the bases?" asked Stone.

"For now I would say later in the evening after the civilians have gone home. They won't risk having their plans revealed. I'll continue to monitor their emails and when they send the time relay that information to Sarah."

"This is going to be the hard part and a lot of it will fall on Chuck," began Sarah. "We need to trace the signal from the conference call back to its origin. If we can do that I have a feeling, we'll locate Fulcrums main location or one of them at least."

"It won't be a problem but I'll need time to get the IP address and a location. My fear is the call is a download and if I take too long Fulcrum will have a shit load of intersects out there."

"I was thinking the same thing until I remembered what Wade said. The retention rate still needs to be high unless they figured out some way around it. I don't see that many people having the same rate as you."

"So your saying…"

"If it is an intersect download most, if not all of them, will die."

"Works for me," Casey added in. "Traitorous scum bags deserve to die in my book."

"I agree with Casey," added Carina.

"We have a lot to get done in a short amount of time so get to it."

For the next several hours' individuals carried out their assigned tasks with practiced efficiency. Calls and plans were made even though they had to work late into the night. When Sarah was convinced nothing more could be done until morning she dismissed the team and headed home. The next day brought the same type of effort as the day before. By the middle of the afternoon the teams on the outside were in their assembly areas sending Chuck pictures of the building of they would be entering. Sarah and Casey were doing the bulk of the planning for the Pasadena location, leaving the other locations to the FBI agent in charge.

The day of the raids had finally arrived all teams were in place. Sarah and Chuck were once again in CTTF while the rest of the intersect team was on sight. All the teams in the field were sending live footage back to Castle. Sarah activated her coms to speak with the teams under her command for the mission. "Leaders, have your teams ready to go from this point on. Once I receive the ok to go from my people I'll give you the go ahead. We expect there to be moderate to heavy resistance so be careful. Tell your team under no circumstances are they to look at any monitors. Stand by and wait for further instructions."

"I'm ready Sarah, they should be getting on line shortly. As soon as I have a point of origin on the signal I'll let you know."

"Thanks Chuck I hope this goes well."

"You and me both. Ok its started. Right now it looks like a regular video conference. I'm starting the trace now." Chucks fingers were flying over the keyboards as he rolled from one computer to another using every resource he had at his disposal. Each system was tracking a different computer in hopes of finding the source. "I'm getting close Sarah get ready to turn loose the dogs."

"Rodger that Chuck." One after another the computers alerted Chuck they had located the IP address of the router at the distant end of the call.

"Send them in Sarah, I'm blanking out the cameras and unlocking the doors," Chuck said as he continued working on the computers. He was trying to trace the source of the data. Sarah was glued to the screen as she watched her team go to work.

Pasadena

"Show time people move out," said Reynolds as he moved his team out. Casey was paired with Stone while Carina was with Reynolds. Members of the local SWAT team moved alongside FBI agents as they advanced towards the building. Back up agents and the LEO's surrounded the building to ensure no Fulcrum agents slipped through their net. The same scenario was taking place at the other locations.

Once SWAT took care of the door the teams moved in. Thanks to the video footage they had from Rufus's camera Casey had a road map to the guard station. He quickly found the guard and dispatched him with a head shot. Stone took out an agent trying to get a bead on Casey. The resistance they expected to encounter never materialized. They only encountered two other agents and took them out without much problem. The other agents were finding the same thing as they moved in.

"Casey, I found a conference room and it doesn't look good," said Stone as she pointed to an open door. Fifteen people were in chairs facing a large screen. Many of them were slumped over or had fallen off their chairs. Those that were still awake were shaking violently with traces of blood coming out of their ears. "you need to call this in."

"Walker I have a SITREP for you," Casey called in.

"Let me guess, presumed dead Fulcrum agents on the floor the others are shaking in their seats?"

"Roger that Walker. Looks like the kid was right about the fried brains. We have a few agents in custody that were milling around and surrendered."

"I'm getting the same reports from the other teams as well. Chuck's working on locating the server but it's been tough going for him so far."

"We have the location secure but will hold on site until the download stops. I don't want any of our people to die."

"Roger that Casey, report back to me when you're ready to leave the scene."

"Sarah, you need to call Beckman now. All indications I have say the server is in or near Grahams House. I have a virus I can use to wipe it out but I want approval before I do but I'm running out of time. He has somebody that's really good trying to keep me out."

"Fuck," Sarah replied. She quickly dialed Beckman.

"Beckman secure."

"General, Grahams Fulcrum. The server for their intersect is in or near his house. Permission to wipe out the data?"

"Permission granted call me back when you have the final details."

"Scrub the data Chuck." Chuck's fingers once again flew over the keyboard and he let his virus loose on the server. "The virus is loose and unless they have someone better than Wade its unstoppable. Holy shit! Sarah quick check out the screen."

Sarah took a look at the screen and gasped, "Is that Casey?"

"I didn't know he had it in him."

"Good for him, he can use someone in his life." There in front of them in high definition was Casey lip locked with Jackie Stone. "I need to check in with the rest of the teams and see how they made out."

"Reynolds, what's your status?"

"We're just about done here. Ellie is looking over a few of the survivors but doesn't hold out much hope for them. We have twenty-three dead Fulcrum agents, seven injured. We suffered some minor wounds but none that can't be treated by Ellie."

"Thanks for the information." Sarah proceeded to call each team in order and take down the numbers they provided. Once she had the information from each team she told them to secure the area and let the techs do the same.

"When you told me almost a year ago that some people didn't care who they hurt or killed to get what they want came to roost tonight."

"That's the harsh reality of our business Chuck, some people just don't care. Now comes the hard part, taking down Graham."

"I'm sure you and Beckman will figure it out."

"I'm going to wait for the rest of the team to get back before I call in the report to her. I want Casey's input on this."

"Why? He's just gonna grunt and say he wants to kill him."

"That's true, but I still want his input."

Once the team had returned Sarah called General Beckman on the video conference feed. "General, I have already emailed the numbers from tonight's missions which we can go over at a later time. What we need to discuss is the fact that Graham is Fulcrum."

"What the fuck," shouted Casey jumping out of his chair. "I'm gonna kill the traitorous prick." Stone placed her hand on his shoulder and gently pulled him down in his seat.

"At ease Major. Agent Walker proceed," snapped Beckman. Chuck just looked knowingly at Sarah.

"Chuck traced Fulcrum's intersect server to the area around Grahams house. Further investigation of the neighborhood by Chuck eliminated all the neighbors as suspects. I'm convinced he's Fulcrum and probably one of the head figures. What's our next move ma'am?"

"First we're in a world of shit with this information," began Beckman. "Graham has a bunch of politicians that like him. Any number of them could be part of his brain trust so we need to be careful from this point forward."


	7. The hunt is on

**AN:** This is the next to last chapter and contains some harsh language, use of the F bomb to be exact. I'm not one to worry about reviews, favorites or how many people actually read my work. My goals in writing are to improve how I write and give the reader something different from the norm. I try to stay away from writing 101, you know where two people meet, get together after a rocky start then the story ends.

I read almost all the works posted here and admire many of the writers. I try to write a balanced story. One that has romance, action, humor and suspense. That said, what I don't understand is the narrow mindedness of the majority of the readers. I have received more than a few reviews and PM's stating that for them Charah is 90% of what makes Chuck. Maybe that's why the show is no longer on the air? Viewers only wanted to see them together and didn't care about what else happened. When you watch a show or read a story for one reason and don't take into account what else is going on you miss a great deal. To me it's like eating plain pizza and never adding any toppings. Before you get out the tar and feathers I never saw season three, I was station in Iraq when it aired, so this is not an endorsement of it. My opinion is based on reviews to my works as well as those given to other stories posted here. The more Charah there is the more reviews it gets no matter how well or poorly written it is. My guess is, if a writer posted a story that concentrated on Charah's home life with no actually plot, no intrigue, no suspense, just the two of them hanging out with Morgan, Ellie and Devon then toss in a few kids and it would be a huge hit. I have a request as part of this rant and it goes out to any writers who may be reading this, for the love of whatever you hold dear, enough of the sizzling shrimp! Now on to the story.

"You think Fulcrum could be that deeply imbedded in the government?" asked Reynolds.

"Yes. I've given it some thought and I believe we should wait a bit before taking action. I'm hoping tonight's raids spooked him a bit and he makes a mistake. I have plan that I think may help flush him out," replied Beckman.

"What's your idea Ma'am," asked Casey.

"We let it slip that NSA has a working copy of the intersect ready to go online and we plan to upload a group of agents with it in a couple of weeks. We use a false location for the upload site. Hopefully he begins making calls to arrange the theft of it."

"That sounds like a good plan but do you think it will work?" queried Ellie.

"I believe so. He was mad as hell when I got put in charge of the project after Chuck became the intersect. Now I know why, he wanted to use Chuck to help him."

"Ma'am, I have an idea," stated Chuck. "When I was hacking into their systems I was almost stopped a handful of times. He has someone working for him that's almost as good as me. We do have the working copy Wade sent me. If I can get with Wade, maybe we can come up with a version that appears real but can't be downloaded into a person."

"Interesting idea Chuck but how do we make it look real?" asked Stone.

"This part is going to be hard to explain so bear with me." Chuck paused for a few minutes to get his thoughts in order before continuing. Just before he began talking Ellie spoke up.

"When I was working with Wade on the intersect Chuck has, he found the first part of the program got the brain ready to accept the data that would follow it. As he put it, it's like over clocking a processor in a computer to get it to run faster. The problem was that after the download stopped the program never returned the brain to normal causing the brain damage we've seen."

"Thanks El," said Chuck. "We have Wade remove tiny pieces of the code that will stop the brain from using the data it sees. There are certain light and color combinations that the human brain will notice more than others. If we can come up with a way to _hypnotize_ the people getting the download using those colors, it will appear to them they have downloaded the intersect."

"Won't this hacker he has working for him be able to tell it's been tampered with?" asked Sarah.

"Not without the good copy to compare it too," Chuck replied. "One wrong character in a line of code will cause problems. Take out enough and it won't work at all. His man would have to go over every line in the code and data to find it. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"Chuck I need you to get started with Wade. Once he's up to speed I'll need anything you can dig up from Graham's computer. Find out who's in bed with him. Then dig into theirs. We need to find out how high up this goes," stated Beckman.

"What do you want the rest of us to do General?" asked Sarah.

"There's not much else you guys can do until Chuck's ready. Find a remote location to _hide our intersect_ and get surveillance up around it. After that it's wait and see. Take the next few days off. You guys have earned it."

"You heard the General," said Sarah, "let's get out of here it's been a long day." Reynolds and Stone were the first ones out of the briefing while the rest hung around and talked.

"Casey, dinner at our place tomorrow and bring Stone with you," stated Ellie. Casey's face looked shocked for a second before returning to normal.

"You know don't you."

"Know what?" asked a confused Carina.

"It seems mister, I hate lady feelings, was caught on video making out with Jackie after the mission," Ellie responded.

"Holy shit!" exclaimed Carina. "I need a thermometer to check the temperature of Hell because I think it just froze over."

"I'm happy for you big guy," stated Chuck as he gave Casey a firm hand shake. "I'm heading out, let's go Carina."

Right before they got past the door Carina looked back over her shoulder and said, "Check out page fifty-three of the Kama Sutra. I liked it and I think she will too."

"Filter Carina," Sarah shouted at her friend who was laughing her ass off while she left.

"You really need to put a muzzle on her Walker," grumped Casey.

"I'm not saying shit to her Casey. Since she hooked up with Chuck she's been a model agent. She hasn't gone off script, hasn't taken any chances so if she makes a comment or three I'm ok with it."

"Consider yourself lucky John," Ellie said. "They have the entire building they live in to themselves. You were going to be their neighbor. Sarah and I went over there one day to visit and heard screams coming from inside. We drew our weapons and broke down the door. We found them having sex on the floor. Carina just looked up at us and asked if we wanted to join. Chuck was wiggling his eyebrows at us, I mean eewww." That memory made her shiver.

"We've managed to keep their sex contained to his office as well so that's a plus," added Sarah.

"I told you she was in trouble Walker."

"I think it's both of them," added Ellie. "But I'm not complaining either. When they first hooked up we didn't think it would last but their going on a year now so who are we to argue."

"I need to get going. I told Jackie I'd stop over when we finished up here."

"We're just happy for you John," said Ellie as she gave him a hug. "See you guys at dinner."

 **Fulcrum Safe house**

"What the fuck is going on Graham," Senator Smythe bellowed.

"We suffered an unexpected setback with the download. Our scientist assured me it was ok."

"He's a fucking moron then. It was a cluster fuck at best. We lost over a hundred men tonight. Then to make matters worse, they crashed our system costing us all our data. I want this shit fixed yesterday Graham."

"I'll get my best people on it Sir. I'll fix this."

"You better or I'll drop your name to Beckman." The senator turned and stormed out of the room. Graham turned and left through a different door and into his private office. He dialed a well know number and waited for the person to answer.

"What's up Graham?"

"Larkin be at the safe house in the morning, we have a big problem."

"See ya then boss."

 **Early the next morning**

"Glad you could make it Larkin."

"It must be important for you to call me in, so spill it."

"The download was a cluster fuck. We lost all of them and the bosses are pissed. We need Bartowski. It's your job to bring him over to our side."

"Do you want me to shit a gold brick for you while I'm at it? The people he has around him are the best in the business, it's suicide Sir."

"You keep bragging about how good you are so make it happen." Graham reached into his desk and pulled out a pair of sun glasses. "Lazlo designed these to update the intersect. I had him modify them last night. If he puts these on it will put him under your control for twenty-four hours. After that the effect wears off. You just have to find a way for him to get them."

"You're not asking for much are you? I am good but I'm not God. I've seen your reports Graham. He works with Walker and Casey; he lives with a DEA agent in a compound with nothing but agents living there. He's also a trained agent who works for you, maybe you should do something?"

"I can't, he may be mine but Beckman has control of the intersect along with Walkers task force."

"I'll head out there and see if I can make contact with him somehow but it won't be easy or quick."

"Good luck Larkin."

 **CTTF concurrent time line**

Sarah had just settled into her seat behind her desk when her computer chimed alerting her of an incoming video call. She answered it and Beckman was looking back at her.

"Good morning Ma'am, what can I do for you this morning."

"After our call the other night I had our techs monitor Grahams phone. It seems our tarnished director called Larkin. We triangulated his position using the cell towers in the area and they matched up with the address Chuck came up with. I have agents watching the house and taking pictures of anyone coming and going."

"So Larkin is back in play huh? It seems the game is afoot. I guess he's coming for Chuck?"

"That's my theory. How do you want to play it?"

"Easy, I'm going to unleash Casey and make sure he doesn't miss this time."

"I like that plan Commander. I'll track him from here and let you know when he lands in California."

"Thank you General, I'll brief you on anything Chuck might find."

"Good day Walker," Beckman said as she disconnected the call. Sarah left her office and headed out to find Casey. He wasn't in his office so she headed over the next likely place he would be, Agent Stone's. He was sitting next to her going over some reports.

"At least you two have the door open," quipped Sarah. This caused Casey to do a spit take spraying coffee on Jackie.

"What the hell John!" Jackie exclaimed whipping off her top.

"John, huh?"

"Can it Walker. What can I do for you?"

"We need to talk in my office when you get a free moment."

"I can come now." They made their way to Sarah's office.

"Beckman called and Larkins back in play. She believes he's headed here to grab Chuck. You know I can't let that happen or Ellie would kill me. If you happen to see him in the local area do whatever it takes to make him go away. Just make sure he stays gone this time."

"I understand. This time he gets one between the eyes just to make sure."

"See that he stays gone this time, or no more dinners for you."

"That's harsh Walker. To keep getting fed by you guys I'll cut the fuckers head off and bring it to you."

"Gross John, now get back to Jackie. I'll let you know when we have a location."

Sarah made her way around the CTTF checking on the progress the rest of the teams under her command. Her DEA team was closing in on a drug ring smuggling heroin in to the country via Mexico supplying money to Fulcrum. The FBI had just stopped a domestic terrorist attack in Philadelphia. She made her way to Chuck's office and surprisingly found the door open. When she peaked inside Chuck was sitting at his work station rolling between the computers, pausing at each one to enter commands before moving to the next one, rows and rows of symbols were scrolling down the screens he was using. She had to call his name three times before he even acknowledged her.

"Sorry Sarah I didn't hear you. Is there something you need?"

"I'm just making my rounds checking on the teams. You making any progress on Graham?"

"I just got started on the search. I was working with Wade on a new program he came up with and its phenomenal. From what he was telling me it's untraceable and will run on its own once started. I'm hoping to see results soon."

"How soon is your version of soon? And how does it work?"

"A couple of days at least. It runs on the server and looks for his name to pop up when he logs on. Once it does that it scans his emails and looks for certain code words then back tracks the IP address of the sending email. Since IP address change at log on it finds the MAC address for the computer, that never changes. Once we have the MAC address I can access that computer anytime it's powered up."

"Let me know when you have anything."

"No problem. I may have to do some work at night however. I'll let you know what days."

"Why nights?"

"Like I said the computer has to be powered on for me to look at it. Langley has a policy that dictates that when the user is leaving for the night they log off and restart the computer but leave it powered up. That way the IT department can send updates that will already be installed when the user logs on. It doesn't interfere with their work day. With Graham not using his computer, I can snoop all I want."

"Before I go, where's Carina this morning?"

"She went shopping with Ellie this morning. She should be here in a few hours."

"Should we be worried? Your girlfriend and my wife together, alone shopping."

"Only if they're shopping for sex toys, then one of us is."

"What happened to the shy, innocent, bumbling guy from a year ago?" Sarah lamented with a sigh.

"He hooked up with Carina!" this was said as he struggled to hold back his laughter. Sarah joined him in laughing as she turned and left his office.

The raids from the past weeks put a large dent in Fulcrum. During the next weeks not much was happening on the Fulcrum front. The intersect team figured Fulcrum had gone to ground to regroup and bolster their ranks. Not much was happening with finding out who Graham was collaborating with in the Government either. They had picked up some leads but most of them had turned into dead ends. The lone bright spot was the NSA techs were able to track Larkin's movements across the country through his calls to Graham. They were also able to prove that Graham was indeed Fulcrum. Casey had begged both Sarah and Beckman several times to let him take care of Larkin before he got close to them. His request was refused each time. It was almost a month before Larkin was spotted in Burbank and they got their first big break. One of the agents assigned to monitoring the parking area around the Orange Orange spotted Larkin entering the Buy More and alerted Sarah. She quickly called Chuck, Carina and Casey into her office.

"Larkin was just spotted going into the Buy More. We need to get him alone, any ideas people?" she began.

"I got this," stated Chuck. He pulled out his phone and called Morgan. "Hey buddy."

"Hey Chuck. You're not calling to cancel game night are you?"

"Nah. I heard an old friend of mine from school is in town looking for me. He knows I used to work at the Buy More and may come in there looking for me."

"You want me to give him your address?"

"Hell no, if he stops by just give me a call and I'll talk to him."

"Ok Chuck. I'll see you later."

"So Chuck what's your plan?" asked Carina.

"Since he's looking for me, I figure I'd give him me." He put his hand up to cut off any questions that might be coming. "He'll eventually end up talking to Morgan. When he calls me I'll arrange a meet at the double O. Carina will be with me and Casey can hide in the back. When we find out what he wants we let Casey take care of him. Before that happens maybe he will give us something to go on."

"We'll do it your way, but if that fucker makes a move, Casey won't get a shot at him because I'll kill him," snarled Carina.

"Territorial much Carina," jabbed Casey.

"Nobody screws with my man Casey, nobody." It didn't take long before Chuck's phone rang and the meeting was set up.

Sometime later Chuck and Carina were seated at a table facing the door and Casey was hidden off to the side and out of view. Two agents were manning the counter like they did every day. Bryce walked in a few minutes later and addressed Chuck. Chuck dismissed the agents from behind the counter before they began talking.

"It's been a long time Chuck," stated Bryce.

"Cut the shit Larkin," snapped Chuck, "what do you want?"

"I'm here to warn you about Fulcrum. They're after you."

"Thanks for the news flash Bryce," replied Chuck as he leaned back in his chair. Carina had already moved her hand to her weapon in case Larkin tried something. "Now why are you really here?"

"Graham sent me undercover to infiltrate Fulcrum. One of my contacts informed me they just figured out you're the intersect."

"You expect me to believe you, a rogue agent? You've screwed up my life enough so far. Why should I trust you? Plus, why the hell did you send me the intersect?"

"Chuck, I'm not rogue. Fulcrum tried recruiting me a while ago because they knew about the intersect. I broke in and stole it to prevent them from getting it."

"But why send it to me? You put a bull's eye on my back by doing that."

"Because they had no idea who you were. I was planning on getting it back but you opened the email and downloaded it." Chuck's hand was now on his weapon.

"So you're not rogue?"

"No. Now can we end this nonsense and get you somewhere safe?"

"Do I have moron tattooed on my forehead Bryce?" Chuck's fingers danced across the face of his phone and Bryce's conversations with Graham started playing. "We know Graham is Fulcrum and you are too. So make it easy on yourself and surrender?"

Bryce made a move for his weapon and a shot rang out. He fell to the ground clutching his knee with Carina standing over him with the barrel of her gun still smoking. "Nobody hurts Chuck, Larkin so quit while your ahead." He made another move towards his weapon and Chuck shot him in the shoulder.

"Bryce, you were once my friend but not anymore. I can still help you if you want. Tell us who's involved with Graham."

"You just signed your death warrant Chuck," Bryce hissed through his pain. "Fulcrum won't give up until they get their hands on you."

"We're done here Carina. Casey your turn," Chuck called over his shoulder as he left the double O with their arms wrapped around each other. Casey came out from his hiding spot and fired a single shot between Larkins eyes, debated for a second before he shot Bryce again just be sure he stayed that way. He then snapped some pictures before he called for a cleaner team then called Sarah.

"Walker secure."

"I made sure Larkin never bothers Chuck again. Cleaners are in route so that's done. Now on to the important stuff, what's for dinner?"

"Really John? That's what's on your mind right now?"

"Killing traitorous bastards always works up my appetite and it's been a week since Jackie and I've had your cooking."

"Ellie's working tonight, Chuck and Carina have plans so it won't be a problem. Just bring some wine and we have a deal. Meet me in my office when you get back."

"See you in a bit Walker."

Once all three people involved in the Larkin mission were seated in Sarah's office she placed a call to Beckman.

"Ma'am, Larkin showed his face today and was dealt with accordingly. He didn't reveal anything new except to threaten Chuck."

"Very good Walker. I have some good news as well. Earlier today our techs caught a break. They intercepted a conference call between Graham and several Senators. They're getting impatient and want to move up their time table. They also have the speaker of the house in bed with them. I'm waiting until we wrap up here before alerting the President."

"General, do you think their plan is to kill the President and Vice President so the speaker of the house can take over?" asked Chuck.

"That's what it looks like to me. We have a few days before we need to worry. The President is holed up with Australian Ambassador in the White House going over the Scorpion defense project." Chucks eyes fluttered as the flash took over.

"General, he's not in Washington anymore. The Scorpion project is a cover for a secret meeting that's been in the pipeline for a while. There's a meeting that's going to take place today at Stanford's Memorial Hall. He's meeting the heads of England, Germany and France as well. The Vice President is meeting his counter parts at Camp David."

"Walker, your teams will handle Stanford, I'll take care of back here."

"It's time we take the fight to Fulcrum Ma'am," sneered Casey. "I took some pictures of Bryce after I dealt with him. It's time we showed Graham what happens to traitors."

"General, send me the Senators names and I'll make sure they get the message," stated Chuck. "You can round up the rats as they jump ship."

"I'm sending them now. I have rats to trap, Beckman out."

"Stanford is your turf Chuck you're with me, Casey and Carina. Reynolds I need you also. Reynolds have a team of agents meet us…" she paused waiting for Chuck to fill in the blank.

"at the Littlefield Center. It's about a block away and behind the main entrance."

"Plain clothes only and protective gear under their clothes. We want to be as invisible as possible. We'll wait until we get in position prior to notifying the medical center."

"Don't forget Ellie," suggested Chuck.

"Duh Chuck. Ellie made it perfectly clear that anytime you go on mission she's going to be there. I spent one night on the couch the one time I forgot and it sucked."

"Ouch, well I have cages to rattle before I gear up. Carina you coming?"

"Not yet but hopefully in a little bit," she quipped as she followed Chuck out unbuttoning her top.

"Shit, Walker she's getting worse!" snapped Casey.

"She does it to mess with us Casey. She knows it gets under your skin. Be thankful she's leaving you and Jackie alone." Casey's face paled slightly upon hearing that.

"She wouldn't, would she?"

"As long as you don't make comments to Chuck like you used to then no. But start picking on him again and you'd be fair game." Suddenly the monitor came to life and the General began speaking

"Walker, Casey. I'm glad I caught you before you got under way. Major, nice work with Larkin, he's not coming back from that."

"That was the idea General."

"As we suspected the rats are jumping ship and we've captured many of them. Some may get by us but not for long. It's going to take a while to figure out a way to have them gracefully resign then disappear. Off the record, I'm getting promoted. I have you and your team to thank for that Commander."

"Just doing our job Ma'am."

"I know that Sarah but you have one individual who's made contributions that have accelerated the process. Chuck's hacking of Fulcrums computers, bank accounts and emails has done more damage in the last year than taking down all the cells we took out. His life's been in jeopardy every day for almost a year. What he's done to thwart Fulcrum is only part of it. How many drug busts have come from the information he's gathered? The number of domestic terrorist plots that have been prevented? The list is staggering. That's why I personally recommended him for the CIA's Distinguished Intelligence Cross. The head of the CIA has to approve the award but with Graham being Fulcrum, I'm asking the President to sign off on the award. Please keep that from him until it's final." Both agents were shocked by Beckman's remarks, but the pride they felt for Chuck could be seen on their faces. They both knew it was the highest the award the CIA could give.

"We will General and I for one believe he's earned it."

"I second Walkers belief. If you told me a year ago that Chuck would be getting such a high award I would have laughed in your face. The Kid's changed my mind, he's a damn fine agent."

"Agents, I kid you not when I say this, he will probably go down as the greatest intelligence agent of all time."

"General that's amazing," said Walker.

"No, what's amazing is he's still getting better. I don't think you notice how good he is because you see him every day, I don't. The other Directors have noticed as well. Hell, the analysts at Langley have a shrine for an 'unknown analyst/agent' working for you. The same goes for the DEA. It seems he's been helping them out as well."

"I'll be damned," Casey muttered. "The nerd has a shrine."

"Three actually," Chuck quipped from the door. Carina was at her usual place by his side. "The CIA, NSA and DEA have full shrines, Homeland and ATF only have tribute rooms. Funny thing is they all believe they are different people. Now if you two are done bull shitting about my shrines, we do have a President to save."

"Agent Bartowski," snapped the General who was still on the video call, "you were saying?" She gave Casey and Walker a sly wink when she said this.

"Ahhh shit. Carina tell me I didn't just hear the amazing General Beckman?"

"Sorry Chuckles, no can do," she answered the entire time trying not to laugh.

"My apologies Ma'am."

"You guys have world leaders to save. Good hunting, Beckman out."

"Let's do this in steps," began Sarah. "First we have to save the President. I suggest we get ahold of the Secret Service to clue them in then have them go to their back up location, if they have one, for the meeting."

"We can get Beckman to handle that," added Carina. "There's no telling what those crazy fucks are up to. With Graham in the know they could've been placing explosives in that building for months."

"True," added Casey. "I'm sure of it. If I had time to rig a building no-one would ever find them. I'd rule out weapons all together. The Secret Service would have pin pointed any place a sniper could use. They could have planted a poison gas with the explosives or rigged the ventilation shafts with it."

"If we go with the planted explosives theory, I would rule out hard wire as a way to set them off," Chuck stated firmly. "It would require a lot of work to conceal the wires in the building much less to where they would activate them from. That leaves the other possibilities which come from right from the terrorist hand book on IED making. Wire the explosives to cell phones. Call the phone and BOOM, one dead President. The other option is use a digital timer on each charge set for a certain date and time. Either way I can't see a way to check out the building in time to keep the President and the others safe. In fact, I'd have him go off grid for a while if possible."

"You're thinking that Graham could have gotten to his protection detail," surmised Sarah.

"Yes. This is going to sound farfetched but just hear me out. Ellie loves the movie 'An American President'. In one scene the President tells his driver to pull over because he forgot to get his girlfriend flowers. Of course they object and he says, 'You think there's a florist in there planning an assassination on the off-chance that I might be stopping by?' we reroute him to Castle. Not even Graham would think he'd end up there. I can check each member of his detail before they are allowed to enter."

"It's still risky Chuck," Casey said.

"Any plan we come up with is risky Casey. His fucking driver could be Fulcrum and blow him away as soon as the plans change. Castle was designed to withstand a low level nuke and except for Shego it's impregnable. It's the safest place in the state right now."

"I agree with Chuck on this one," seconded Carina. Sarah added her vote to the list.

"I'm calling Beckman and inform her of our decision. If she decides against us, we do our best and hope." After a few rings Beckman answered the call.

"Walker I take it you have a plan?" asked the general.

"Yes Ma'am but you're not going to like it." She then went over the discussion her team had had just moments before. "The only people I know for sure haven't been turned are in this room, my wife, plus agents Stone and Reynolds."

"You make a good point Walker. I'm making one change. No one but the President enters Castle. Once inside go into full lock down mode. If Chuck flashes on any of them, secure them. I'll personally talk to the President, send him your pictures and tell him not to trust anyone else until we get a handle on this. Stand by for any changes, Beckman out." Fifteen minutes later the general came back on the video call.

"It's a go people. Walker and Bartowski will meet the motorcade as it leaves the airport. The Presidential limo will pull in behind you and follow you to Castle. John and Carina will be posted there and escort the President into Castle. Chuck will check out the Secret service agents. They will then enter Castle and lock it down until further notice. Good luck agents, I'll be awaiting your call." And the call ended. Several hours later inside the Presidential limo.

"Smith, follow that SUV," said the President pointing at the vehicle driven by Casey. "Change of plans Jones."

"Yes Sir." Said the driver.

The head of the detail, agent Jones began speaking, "Mr. President, that's not one of ours. I have no changes in schedule we need to Evac you now."

"Stand down Jones. I know of the changes and that's all you need to concern yourself with. When we stop you have one and only one job to do. When I tell you open the door. After I'm clear tell your men to stand down, understood?"

"Yes Mr. President."

 **Lead SUV**

"So far so good Chuck. Call Beckman and give her the update."

"Ok." Chuck placed his call to the general who answered almost immediately.

"Beckman secure."

"Package in tow ETA fifty minutes."

"Roger that Chuck."

Just under an hour later the Presidential motorcade pulled up in front of the double O and the two CIA agents jumped out of their SUV and ran to the limo carrying the President. As soon as the limo door opened Chuck and Sarah covered the President as they quickly ushered him into the Orange Orange where Carina and Casey took over.

"Stand down," was heard from Agent Jones as he yelled to his men.

They all but pushed the President into the freezer and down the steps into Castle. Chuck and Sarah, with the help of Agent Jones bared the rest of the agents from entering. Once Chuck was convinced there was only one Fulcrum agent, who they detained and handed over to Jones, they headed into Castle and went into lock down. General Beckman was already on screen and talking with the President by the time Chuck and Sarah arrived.

"Mr. President, meet the last members of the team, Agent Sarah Walker and Agent Chuck Bartowski, CIA."

"Pleased to meet you agents. I've already met your wife Chuck, nice girl you married."

"Eww that's just gross," was heard coming from Carina, at the same time the siblings and Sarah started laughing and Casey groaned. The President had a perplexed look on his face as he waited for an answer.

"I'm sorry Sir," Ellie managed to say through her giggles as she sidled up to her wife. "Chuck's my brother, I'm married to Sarah."

"Yep, that would be gross. How many of my people were traitors?"

"Only one from your detail Sir," answered Chuck. "he's in custody as we speak."

"Sir, we have the area around Memorial hall secure at this time. The campus has been evacuated to prevent casualties in case a bomb does go off. The FBI and Marines with bomb dogs are checking out the area now. We have the Vice President secure in his residence."

"Good work General. Your team is as good as you make them sound."

"Thank you Sir." Beckman actually smiled at the complement. "Until the extraction plans are finalized you need to remain in Castle. They should be ready for you to move inside the hour."

"By the way Sarah, what smells so good?" asked the President.

"I made lasagna," said Ellie. Seeing the strange looks she was getting from everyone she responded, "What? I figured he'd be hungry after the flight and since we didn't know how long he'd be stuck here I planned ahead."

"You didn't bring your good china did you El?" joked Chuck.

"Of course not," Ellie huffed. "he can use the same dishes we use or go hungry. That's up to him."

"This is a tough crowd you have here General," said the President with a smile. "No problem with the dishes Chuck, I put my pants on the same as everyone else, one leg at a time." His comment put the rest of the people in the room in a more relaxed state. "The only time I use the good plates at my house is when I have to host one of those boring ass state dinners." He paused for a second and a wistful look spread across his face. "You know the thing I hate the most about being President? I miss cooking. I love to cook you know? But the staff won't let me near the kitchen, claiming it's not your job, blah, blah, blah."

"The next time you're in Burbank and feel the need to cook, swing by our place and I'll give you free rein in the kitchen," quipped Ellie as she returned with the food. She then began dishing out the food and the agents present began wolfing it down as soon as their plate arrived. Conversations started among the various people in the room. Midway through the feast Sarah's phone rang, she excused herself from the table to take the call. She returned a few minutes later visibly shaken as she took her seat.


	8. Chapter 8

"Babe, what's wrong?" asked Ellie as she took her hand. Sarah turned to the screen the general was on and asked, "Sarah what did you hear?"

"That was Betty. Shego is loose."

"Dear God," exclaimed Beckman jumping from her seat. "Can Kim rein her in?"

"That's the problem Ma'am. Wade just called to let me know what happened. Graham saw us with them and ordered a hit on Kim and Shego in retaliation for our actions in stopping Fulcrum. He sent someone named Danial Shaw to do it. Several days ago he shot both of them. Kim is critical but will recover. Shego took a round in the shoulder but with her unnatural healing factor she was healed in minutes."

"Excuse me, but who is this Shego and why are you worried?" asked the President. Chuck quickly pulled up the video of Shego destroying the tank. The President just sat there slack jawed. "She's on our side right?" he asked worry lacing his voice.

"General if you want to make a move on Graham you better do it now. Betty told me Shego promised vengeance on those that hurt Kim. Between Wade and her contacts there is nowhere either of them can go. She's after Shaw now and according to Betty closing in fast. She will find him as you know and if we don't get the information from Graham before she finds him we never will."

"I'll get right on securing Graham, have your people stay away from Shaw; we've seen what she can do. Mr. President I'll send word when you can leave, enjoy your dinner." With that the general signed off. An hour later the President's new detail arrived to pick him up and take him to another hidden location. Once he was gone Sarah called the general back to give her a more detailed report.

"General, in the interest of 'plausible deniability' on the President's part I withheld some information."

"It's bad isn't it?" questioned Beckman.

"Not from our perspective, for us it's good news. Shego's going with a scorched earth policy against Fulcrum. Shaw made contact with several of their agents begging for help. Anyone he contacted is presumed dead. Wade's been tracking him for Shego. She's already taken out five safe houses and one hub we didn't know about. There've been no survivors found yet."

"Great for us I'd say," grunted Casey. "Makes our job easier if you ask me."

"She's killing anyone in her path then," asked a shaken Chuck. Carina took hold of Chuck's hand to calm him down. Despite him being an agent and taken a life before he still hated it when innocent people died.

"There've been no reports of innocents being harmed. The civilians that were duped or forced into working for Fulcrum were told in no uncertain terms to leave. No-one knows what happens after that except the building is left a smoking pile of rubble."

"I'm afraid this could be her undoing," sighed the general. "There's no way the legal folks won't lock her up now even with our help." This caused Sarah to laugh out loud. "What's so damn funny Walker?" snapped the general. Pictures of the suspects involved in the destruction popped up on the screens being used. Everybody involved in the video call were dumbfounded. Not one picture showed Shego. There were six different women on screen.

"These are the pictures taken from the cameras at the locations Betty _believes_ she's hit so far. As you can see she's not in any of them." The screen changed showing Shego sitting in the hospital next to Kim's family in her recovery room. "this shot was sent to me by Betty, it was taken just before she called."

Ellie was the first to speak up, "She's crazy good isn't she?"

"They can prove it's not her with that shot and all those people around her," said an astonished Carina. "Are you sure it's even her?"

"Not at all. On the record as far as I'm concerned she's not involved in anything, she's at her wife's bedside. Off the record, I hope she kills every last fucking one of them."

 **Middleton earlier in the week.**

Danial Shaw strolled across the mall parking lot like any other patron leaving the mall after a day of shopping. Graham had given him an assignment to take out two women who were working with Walker to end Fulcrum. When he first looked at the pictures Graham sent of his targets he laughed out loud. One of the women was a petite red head who appeared to be right out of high school, the other had dark black hair, was just a few years older and slightly more well-built. He knew that Fulcrum was getting desperate after the beatings Walkers team was inflicting on them. Their finances were running low and the number of agents willing to turn had come to a complete standstill.

Shaw spent the last couple of weeks following them to get their routine down. Today would be his best chance to carry out his objective. He would take them down here in the parking lot, then rob them giving the police the idea it was a robbery gone bad. Danial Shaw stepped from between the cars he was using as cover and aimed his silenced pistol at the red head. His first round hit the red head in the middle of the back dropping her instantly to the ground, the brunette followed seconds later. As he approached the pair of fallen women the brunette stirred and got to her knees. He fired two more shots at the resilient bitch but neither seemed to have any effect on her. Her head turned in his direction and he saw the look of complete hatred and malice in her eyes. She turned back to her fallen partner and began helping her. Shaw fled the area knowing he failed in his mission but confident one of them was dead.

"Hang in there Kimmie," Shego sobbed. she clicked her communicator on and called the one person who could help. "Wade, Kimmie's been shot and it doesn't look good."

"What, how," the young genius stammered. The sounds from keys clicking could be heard over the device.

"Not fucking important now nerdlinger, if helps not here pronto I'll track your ass down and fry it to a crisp." Tears were flowing freely from Shego's eyes as she cradled Kim in her arms.

"GJ's MEDEVAC chopper is in route eta two minutes. Middleton hospital is on alert, Dr. Possible is in route to assemble the best team there to work on her. Betty is also in route."

"Wade," she forced out between sobs, "pull the videos from the mall cameras and ID the bastard who did this. Tell cyclops to stay out of it. The person that did this to princess and anyone connected to him are mine."

"Already on it. I have a drone in the area already and once I find the guy he's yours." The sound of helicopter blades rotating could be heard moving in quickly and the air was now blowing violently around her as the MEDEVAC landed. The crew jumped out, began treating Kim and prepping her for the flight. She was loaded on board followed in by Shego who still had not let go of her hand. It was a short flight to the hospital and the team of surgeons was already in place waiting for the patient to arrive. Not minutes after the chopper's arrival Shego found herself outside the operating suite locked in an embrace with Kim's mom, Dr. Ann Possible. Ann was the first to speak,

"She's going to be fine Shego. The best doctors we have are working on her."

"I know Ann; it just hurts so much knowing she's in there fighting for her life."

"You know I hate violence Shego, but once she's out of the woods I want you to find the bastards responsible for this and make them pay," Ann said with conviction. She then looked Shego dead in the eyes to ensure her meaning came through, "Make sure there is no way they can ever hurt anyone ever again, understand?"

Shego's eye's turned from their normal dark green color to solid black and her posture stiffened in Ann's hold. Her breathing evened out as she fought to control her anger over what happened. Shego was getting ready to do something she rarely did, unleash her full fury on someone. "You have my word on that Ann, you have my word." Ron and his wife showed up a few hours into the surgery and offered any help they could. Rufus scampered out of Ron's pocket and perched himself on Shego's shoulder. He reached up and patted her cheek. Shego grabbed him and gave him a small squeeze as she looked him in the eyes.

"I'm gonna get them Ruf. They're gonna pay for hurting Kim."

"I hlp," Rufus said as he headed down into Shego's pocket almost daring Ron to stop him.

Kim made it through the surgery with flying colors and was recovering nicely when Shego went on her quest.

With Wades help she tracked Shaw to a series of safe houses heading towards the east coast. Shego could have taken out Shaw at any one of the safe houses he passed through but wanted the rogue agency led by Graham to suffer before she got to him. She knew Shaw would lead her to the big fish she was after. Her years of being a villain taught her a lot of things but the most important thing she picked up was how a panicked bad guy acts.

The scene would play out at each stop she made. Fulcrum agents were milling about the house awaiting further instructions when suddenly a wall would explode leaving a smoking gaping hole. Standing in the newly formed entry way was a tall woman dressed in a cat suit and a very pissed off expression on her face.

"Listen up you wastes of human flesh. I'm looking for this man, Danial Shaw. Tell me where he is and I will make it painless for you. If not suffer the consequences." The men would open fire on Shego and she, with Rufus's help would pound them into submission when the bullets had no effect on her. When they came too she asked the question again.

"What the fuck are you?" was a common question.

"I'm a demon birthed in the darkest pits of hell and I've come for you. Tell me what I want to know," she'd snarl at them. It took some persuading on her part but she always got the information she wanted. She would hook Wade into their computers, he'd pull the information from it then she'd kill them all and level the house never leaving a trace of the men to be found.

 **Two weeks later (scenes will alternate between castle and the safe house) m**

Castle was alive with activity for the first time in weeks. General Beckman had a new mission for them. She appeared on the screen and addressed her top team.

"We had a lock on Graham but we missed him by minutes, he's gone to ground. We've received a tip he's meeting up with Shaw but no idea where." Suddenly the screen split and a message appeared 'helmet cam online' it was showing a large hill with nothing else visible, hushed voices could be heard but they weren't loud enough to be understood. Then the voices got louder…

 **Outside Graham's bunker**

"I dropped a tip to Beckman about the meet so patch Rufus's helmet cam to castle. You may not want to see what's going to happen to these bastards."

"I didn't watch any of the others but this one I have to see. Mrs. Dr. Possible is also online."

"Mom wants to see this? She'll hate me after this" Shego said with just a touch of fear in her voice.

"No she won't. She told you to make sure didn't she? Mrs. Dr. P is smart; she knew what she was asking you to do."

"I hope so Wade. I really do."

"Shego," a third voice came over the link, "it's Mom. I need you to do one thing for me." She paused for a second before letting out a Shego worthy growl, "unleash the beast!"

Shego let out a howl worthy of a Viking warrior before speaking to Rufus.

"Ok Ruf, you're up. Take the ventilation shaft and get in position. I'll come in when you're set up. You have Graham, the black guy, when we start."

"M'k" growled the naked mole rat as he glowed a light blue and made his way his way down the shaft.

 **Castle**

"Still not used to a talking mole rat," said Chuck.

"Quiet Chuck," admonished Carina, "shits about to go down and I'm not missing any of it."

"I'm dying to see how it goes down myself," added Casey. The rest of the team voiced their agreement.

"Rufus sounds pissed," added Ellie. The she laughed, "who'd have thought we'd know what a pissed off mole rat sounded like?" this got a laugh out of everyone.

 **Safe house**

"Relax Shaw, a nuke couldn't get in here," said Graham.

"You haven't seen this bitch in action Graham."

"Please excuse me if I don't believe in the boogie man. She's not getting in here and our extraction is in a few hours. We need to lay low for a while and regroup. Walker's team is killing us."

"That bitch Beckman locked up the members of congress and senate we had on board last week."

"Rdy," came from Rufus.

The ground around the bunker shook, then shook again. The process repeated its self for several minutes.

"She's here Graham," asked Shaw in a concerned voice.

"How many times to I have to tell you…" he was cut off as the solid steel wall in front of him melted away and Shego appeared in the smoking hole.

"Ruf, you're on. Take Graham out." The grate in the ceiling slammed to the floor and a glowing pink rodent dropped to the floor. He went right after Graham pounding him with his paws and taking an occasional bite for good measure. Graham was soon an unconscious heap on the floor.

"Hello Shaw," said Shego while she leaned against the opening and began filing her nails, "we finally meet."

"What the fuck do you want with me?"

"Easy, I want you to die. But I intend for you to suffer before I end you."

"I don't understand why."

"You want to play it that way do you? You shot my wife who did nothing to you, all because this piece of shit," motioning to Graham, "told you to. You have a misguided belief in him, but I don't." She talked towards him, "You have some misguided idea that Walker killed your wife. She didn't, your ex-wife is alive and well living off the grid with your son. Graham lied to you as usual, but being the dumb fuck you are you believed him."

"Huh? I saw the video of Walker shooting her."

"Confused are you? Let me clear it up. Walker's CIA handler found out that your wife wasn't rogue. He swapped out the rounds in Walkers weapon with non-lethal ones. He got her into WITSEC where she lives a normal life You are going to die. How you die is up to you?"

"Fuck you bitch," snarled Shaw. He tried to draw his weapon, but after a well-placed plasma blast, found himself looking at a stump.

"Wrong move dick head," she snarled. After questioning him and satisfied he had nothing else to offer, she proceeded to filet him alive until he finally died. One quick burst of plasma and his body vanished from sight.

 **Castle**

Sarah was in tears after hearing the news about Shaw's wife, not from grief but from happiness. Ellie held her close and peppered her with kisses.

"Agents at all costs keep away from that woman. Sarah do all you can to keep your relationship with them going," stated Beckman.

"Quiet people I have the game on here," stated Casey. The rest of the team was looking at him like he had lobsters coming out of his ears. "What? Did you see how she got the information out of that prick? It was beautiful."

"You're a twisted fuck Casey," said Carina.

"Yep."

"General are you getting all this?" questioned Sarah.

"This and much more. Wade has been feeding me information from before as well."

 **Safe house**

"Director Langston Graham, CIA, has a nice ring to it doesn't it Ruf?" asked Shego who was circling Graham who was tied in a chair.

"uh huh," Rufus answered while nodding his head.

"Tell me Langston, what's it feel like to have all that power and now you have none? Ruf, his arm." Rufus leapt from Shego's shoulder and did a triple flip before landing on Graham's left hand shattering it causing him to scream out in pain.

"That's gotta hurt," said Ellie.

"Now that my partner has your attention we can play this one of two ways. The first is you give me any information you have on Fulcrum and I end you quickly. The second is you fuck around and I let Rufus break more bones. The choice is yours."

"Fuck you bitch," said a defiant Graham.

"Option two it is. Rufus his other hand, then take out a shoulder, your choice." Rufus then broke the other hand then the same shoulder of that hand. Graham was in tears while trying to figure a way out.

"Nice going Rufus," said Shego as she tossed him a hunk of cheese as a reward. He grabbed it and began chowing down.

"Nice going Rufus," said Mrs. Possible over the link.

"Fucking Mole rat is awesome," yelled Casey remembering the time Rufus kicked his ass.

"Ruf, do you mind if I take over for a bit?" asked Shego.

"Nu huh."

"Cool. For those of you watching at home, if you're squeamish please turn away from the monitors. What part of his worthless body should go first Ruf?"

"Leg," was the reply. Rufus jumped off her shoulder and drew an imaginary line on Grahams leg, like cut here. He jumped back a few feet and waited.

"Last chance dick weed."

"Fuck you." Plasma flared from her hand and made a clean cut across Grahams left thigh severing it from the rest of his body. The heat instantly stopping the blood flow.

"Only one leg left. You still want to play this game?" Graham was on the verge of passing out from the pain. With no response coming she cut off the other leg.

"I've got to hand it to you Graham, lesser men have folded by now." Her hand lashed out and raked his face leaving her trade mark claw imprint across his face. She tossed some water on his face shocking him awake.

"I'll talk damn it just stop."

"Good boy, time to spill." Graham gave up anyone he could think of in matter of minutes.

"You have what you wanted, please let me go," he begged with tears in his eyes.

"Let you go? That was never part of the deal. The deal was I would end you quickly, and I will." She walked over to him and touched her finger to his head. He went ridged for a second before going limp.

"Let's go Ruf, Kim needs me." The last thing witnessed was a large green ball of plasma tossed over Shego's shoulder and the room collapsing in on itself.

"General I hope you have enough to put the rest of these fuckers away for life. Call me if you need any more help."

"We will. Give our best to Kim."

"I will. Nerdlinger cut the connection now."

"I have got to get me a mole rat," exclaimed Casey.

"I have our techs combing through the data we have been given over the past few weeks and they have assured me Fulcrum is done," crowed the general.

"What's next for us General?" asked Chuck.

"You go back to working with the taskforce full time and if I need your services again I'll call you."

"I'm sure the rest of my team feels the same way. It's been an honor working with you and we look forward to doing it again in the future," said Sarah.

"For what might be the final time, Commander, Lieutenant Colonel dismissed," in keeping with her tradition she cut the connection.

"Congratulations on your promotion Casey," said Sarah. Her sediments were echoed by everyone else in the room. "Everyone take a few days off and be back on Monday. Casey, I know your job is over but I would like you to stay on. Take some time and think it over."

Chuck look up from the data he was sifting through and asked, "Sarah, have you ever heard of the Ring?"

 _Never the end?_


End file.
